CVE-2023-6237
MEDIUMEPSS 82th pctlDescription
Issue summary: Checking excessively long invalid RSA public keys may take a long time. Impact summary: Applications that use the function EVP_PKEY_public_check() to check RSA public keys may experience long delays. Where the key that is being checked has been obtained from an untrusted source this may lead to a Denial of Service. When function EVP_PKEY_public_check() is called on RSA public keys, a computation is done to confirm that the RSA modulus, n, is composite. For valid RSA keys, n is a product of two or more large primes and this computation completes quickly. However, if n is an overly large prime, then this computation would take a long time. An application that calls EVP_PKEY_public_check() and supplies an RSA key obtained from an untrusted source could be vulnerable to a Denial of Service attack. The function EVP_PKEY_public_check() is not called from other OpenSSL functions however it is called from the OpenSSL pkey command line application. For that reason that application is also vulnerable if used with the '-pubin' and '-check' options on untrusted data. The OpenSSL SSL/TLS implementation is not affected by this issue. The OpenSSL 3.0 and 3.1 FIPS providers are affected by this issue.
How to fix
TridentStack Control can deploy fixes like this automatically across your Windows, macOS, and Linux fleet. See how it works
Remediation is compiled from vendor and distribution security advisories. Always confirm against the linked source for your exact version and platform.
CVSS v3 Vector
Exploitability
Impact
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Exploit Intelligence
Elevated risk: more likely to be exploited than 82% of all known CVEs.
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-606 vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2023-3446 | Medium | 5.3 | 6.5% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2023-5678 | Medium | 5.3 | 4.5% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2023-3817 | Medium | 5.3 | 3.0% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2024-43499 | High | 7.5 | 2.6% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2026-1519 | High | 7.5 | 1.6% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2024-4603 | Medium | 5.3 | 1.1% | - | Fix |
Common questions
How do I fix CVE-2023-6237?
Published advisories record a fix for 45 affected products. The "How to fix" section on this page lists the fixed version and source advisory for each one, so apply the entry matching what you actually run.
Is CVE-2023-6237 being actively exploited?
Not that we know of. CVE-2023-6237 is not in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Its EPSS score of 2.3% is the estimated probability that it will be exploited in the next 30 days. That is higher than 82% of all scored CVEs.
How severe is CVE-2023-6237?
CVE-2023-6237 has a CVSS v3 base score of 5.9, rated medium. CVSS rates the technical impact if the vulnerability is exploited, not how likely that is, so weigh it alongside the exploit-prediction score when you decide what to patch first.
What does CVE-2023-6237 affect?
Published advisories record a fix for openssl (Debian), edk2 (Red Hat / RHEL), edk2 (Rocky), edk2-aarch64 (Red Hat / RHEL), and 41 more. Only products with a sourced advisory are listed, so treat this as what we can cite rather than a complete inventory.
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This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2026-05-12.