Null pointer dereference in PKCS12 parsing

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS

5.5 · CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS

• CVE-2024-0727: 3.19% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 88.10 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

Issue summary: Processing a maliciously formatted PKCS12 file may lead OpenSSL to crash leading to a potential Denial of Service attack Impact summary: Applications loading files in the PKCS12 format from untrusted sources might terminate abruptly. A file in PKCS12 format can contain certificates and keys and may come from an untrusted source. The PKCS12 specification allows certain fields to be NULL, but OpenSSL does not correctly check for this case. This can lead to a NULL pointer dereference that results in OpenSSL crashing. If an application processes PKCS12 files from an untrusted source using the OpenSSL APIs then that application will be vulnerable to this issue. OpenSSL APIs that are vulnerable to this are: PKCS12parse(), PKCS12unpackp7data(), PKCS12unpackp7encdata(), PKCS12unpackauthsafes() and PKCS12newpass(). We have also fixed a similar issue in SMIMEwritePKCS7(). However since this function is related to writing data we do not consider it security significant. The FIPS…

Published by the source

26 Jan 2024, 09:30 UTC

Last modified by the source

10 Sep 2026, 03:50 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 13:41 UTC

1. Revision 2 · amended · 26 Oct 2026

   Amended from ghsa record GHSA-9v9h-cgj8-h64p

2. Revision 1 · created · 24 Oct 2026

   Published from osv record GHSA-9v9h-cgj8-h64p

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2024-0727

Advisory: Null pointer dereference in PKCS12 parsing
IDs: CVE-2024-0727, GHSA-9v9h-cgj8-h64p
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2024-0727 (revision 2, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 13:41 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Medium (CVSS 5.5)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: cryptography 42.0.2. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- PyPI cryptography: affected < 42.0.2; fixed in 42.0.2

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- `python -m pip show cryptography`: prints the installed version. Run with the environment that serves production active.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on cryptography.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/GHSA-9v9h-cgj8-h64p (OSV record GHSA-9v9h-cgj8-h64p lists affected ranges: PyPI cryptography >=0 <42.0.2 (fixed))
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-9v9h-cgj8-h64p (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-9v9h-cgj8-h64p lists affected ranges: PyPI cryptography >=0 <42.0.2)

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