CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2021-23840 — Openssl Openssl security vulnerability

High CVSS 7.5

Calls to EVP_CipherUpdate, EVP_EncryptUpdate and EVP_DecryptUpdate may overflow the output length argument in some cases where the input length is close to the maximum permissable length for an integer on the platform. In such cases the return value from the function call will be 1 (indicating success), but the output length value will be negative. This could cause applications to behave incorrectly or crash. OpenSSL versions 1.1.1i and below are affected by this issue. Users of these versions should upgrade to OpenSSL 1.1.1j. OpenSSL versions 1.0.2x and below are affected by this issue. However OpenSSL 1.0.2 is out of support and no longer receiving public updates. Premium support customers of OpenSSL 1.0.2 should upgrade to 1.0.2y. Other users should upgrade to 1.1.1j. Fixed in OpenSSL 1.1.1j (Affected 1.1.1-1.1.1i). Fixed in OpenSSL 1.0.2y (Affected 1.0.2-1.0.2x).

Severity
High
CVSS
7.5 (3.1)
Published
2021-02-16
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-190

Affected products

  • openssl / openssl
  • debian / debian_linux / 10.0
  • tenable / log_correlation_engine
  • tenable / nessus_network_monitor / 5.11.0
  • tenable / nessus_network_monitor / 5.11.1
  • tenable / nessus_network_monitor / 5.12.0

Showing 6 representative product identities from 55 source matches. Confirm exact affected versions with the linked vendor and NVD evidence.

Matched remediation archetype

General vulnerability remediation

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

Check exposure

  • Confirm the affected component, deployment paths, reachable interfaces, and enabled features from inventories and configuration, without probing production destructively.
  • Compare the advisory's affected conditions with the repository lockfiles, build manifests, artifacts, and runtime inventory.
  • Identify data sensitivity, trust boundaries, and privilege level for every confirmed affected deployment.

Remediate safely

  • Apply a vendor-supported fix or remove the affected component or feature; record the selected change and its source in the repository.
  • Update direct and transitive dependency locks, generated artifacts, deployment manifests, and asset inventories together.
  • Add a regression test for the documented unsafe condition using inert inputs and preserve rollback instructions.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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