CVE-2026-28389 | Possible NULL Dereference When Processing CMS KeyAgreeRecipientInfo

Issue summary: During processing of a crafted CMS EnvelopedData message with KeyAgreeRecipientInfo a NULL pointer dereference can happen. Impact summary: Applications that process attacker-controlled CMS data may crash before authentication or cryptographic operations occur resulting in Denial of Service. When a CMS EnvelopedData message that uses KeyAgreeRecipientInfo is processed, the optional parameters field of KeyEncryptionAlgorithmIdentifier is examined without checking for its presence. This results in a NULL pointer dereference if the field is missing. Applications and services that call CMS_decrypt() on untrusted input (e.g., S/MIME processing or CMS-based protocols) are vulnerable. The FIPS modules in 3.6, 3.5, 3.4, 3.3 and 3.0 are not affected by this issue, as the affected code is outside the OpenSSL FIPS module boundary.

Published: 2026-04-07 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2026-28389 is rated Moderate Risk (48.8/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.80%). 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-2026-28389

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 0.08% 0.80% +0.72%
2 2026-05-13 0.03% 0.08% +0.05%
3 2026-04-24 0.03%

Full EPSS history (5 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-28389

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/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:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
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.
3.9 3.6 [email protected]
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/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:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
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.
3.9 3.6 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-28389

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-28389

GHSA-7x88-9hgc-69gf · Severity: high — Issue summary: During processing of a crafted CMS EnvelopedData message with...

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-28389

vendor priority summary link
alpine CVE-2026-28389: 1 source package rows (openssl); 5 state rows across 5 repos (3.20-main, 3.21-main, 3.22-main, 3.23-main, edge-main); fixed 5, open 0. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2026-28389
debian not yet assigned CVE-2026-28389 not yet assigned 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-2026-28389
redhat low https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-28389
suse medium CVE-2026-28389 severity moderate: SUSE including 380 source package names (1.1.2-2.16:libopenssl3-3.2.3-150700.5.31.1, 1.1.2-2.16:openssl-3-3.2.3-150700.5.31.1, …), 713 product×package rows across 94 product lines (Container private-registry/harbor-core, Container private-registry/harbor-exporter, … (94 product lines)): Fixed 416, Known Affected 231, Known Not Affected 51, First Fixed 15. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-28389/
ubuntu low CVE-2026-28389 low priority: Ubuntu including 5 source packages (edk2, nodejs, openssl, openssl-fips, openssl1.0), 37 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, questing, resolute, trusty, upstream, xenial): needs-triage 12, released 9, DNE 8, not-affected 6, needed 2. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-28389

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-28389

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
openssl openssl >= 1.0.2, < 1.0.2zp cpe:2.3:a:openssl:openssl:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
openssl openssl >= 1.1.1, < 1.1.1zg cpe:2.3:a:openssl:openssl:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
openssl openssl >= 3.0.0, < 3.0.20 cpe:2.3:a:openssl:openssl:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
openssl openssl >= 3.3.0, < 3.3.7 cpe:2.3:a:openssl:openssl:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
openssl openssl >= 3.4.0, < 3.4.5 cpe:2.3:a:openssl:openssl:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
openssl openssl >= 3.5.0, < 3.5.6 cpe:2.3:a:openssl:openssl:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
openssl openssl >= 3.6.0, < 3.6.2 cpe:2.3:a:openssl:openssl:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2026-28389

cvelogic Threat Intelligence