CVE-2025-15468 | NULL dereference in SSL_CIPHER_find() function on unknown cipher ID

Issue summary: If an application using the SSL_CIPHER_find() function in a QUIC protocol client or server receives an unknown cipher suite from the peer, a NULL dereference occurs. Impact summary: A NULL pointer dereference leads to abnormal termination of the running process causing Denial of Service. Some applications call SSL_CIPHER_find() from the client_hello_cb callback on the cipher ID received from the peer. If this is done with an SSL object implementing the QUIC protocol, NULL pointer dereference will happen if the examined cipher ID is unknown or unsupported. As it is not very common to call this function in applications using the QUIC protocol and the worst outcome is Denial of Service, the issue was assessed as Low severity. The vulnerable code was introduced in the 3.2 version with the addition of the QUIC protocol support. The FIPS modules in 3.6, 3.5, 3.4 and 3.3 are not affected by this issue, as the QUIC implementation is outside the OpenSSL FIPS module boundary. OpenSSL 3.6, 3.5, 3.4 and 3.3 are vulnerable to this issue. OpenSSL 3.0, 1.1.1 and 1.0.2 are not affected by this issue.

Published: 2026-01-27 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2025-15468 is rated Moderate Risk (41.8/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.75%). Mandatory action: Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2025-15468

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.02% 0.75% +0.73%
2 2026-03-21 0.05% 0.02% -0.03%
3 2026-02-28 0.05%

Full EPSS history (6 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-15468

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.9 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
2.2 3.6 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2025-15468

OS Trackers for CVE-2025-15468

vendor priority summary link
alpine CVE-2025-15468: 1 source package rows (openssl); 59 state rows across 5 repos (3.20-main, 3.21-main, 3.22-main, 3.23-main, edge-main); fixed 5, open 54. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2025-15468
debian unimportant CVE-2025-15468 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (openssl), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2025-15468
redhat low https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-15468
suse high CVE-2025-15468 severity important: SUSE including 310 source package names (16.3-1.20:libopenssl-3-fips-provider-3.5.0-160000.5.1, 16.3-1.20:libopenssl3-3.5.0-160000.5.1, …), 758 product×package rows across 92 product lines (Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/baremetal-os-container, Container suse/sles/16.0/toolbox, … (92 product lines)): Known Not Affected 328, Known Affected 231, Fixed 191, First Fixed 8. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-15468/
ubuntu low CVE-2025-15468 low priority: Ubuntu including 4 source packages (edk2, nodejs, openssl, openssl1.0), 32 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 18, needs-triage 5, DNE 4, ignored 2, released 2, needed 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2025-15468

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-15468

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
openssl openssl >= 3.3.0, < 3.3.6 cpe:2.3:a:openssl:openssl:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
openssl openssl >= 3.4.0, < 3.4.4 cpe:2.3:a:openssl:openssl:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
openssl openssl >= 3.5.0, < 3.5.5 cpe:2.3:a:openssl:openssl:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
openssl openssl >= 3.6.0, < 3.6.1 cpe:2.3:a:openssl:openssl:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2025-15468

cvelogic Threat Intelligence