MEDIUM CVSS 5.9
Published: 2026-01-27

CVE-2025-66199

openssl openssl Security Advisory (CVE-2025-66199)
↗ Official NIST NVD Record
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CyberVault Technical Summary

Analyst Synthesis

Technical analysis, exploit verification, and patch instructions for CVE-2025-66199 impacting openssl openssl. Evaluated with CVSS Base Score of 5.9 (MEDIUM).

Original NVD Description

Source: NIST NVD
Issue summary: A TLS 1.3 connection using certificate compression can be forced to allocate a large buffer before decompression without checking against the configured certificate size limit. Impact summary: An attacker can cause per-connection memory allocations of up to approximately 22 MiB and extra CPU work, potentially leading to service degradation or resource exhaustion (Denial of Service). In affected configurations, the peer-supplied uncompressed certificate length from a CompressedCertificate message is used to grow a heap buffer prior to decompression. This length is not bounded by the max_cert_list setting, which otherwise constrains certificate message sizes. An attacker can exploit this to cause large per-connection allocations followed by handshake failure. No memory corruption or information disclosure occurs. This issue only affects builds where TLS 1.3 certificate compression is compiled in (i.e., not OPENSSL_NO_COMP_ALG) and at least one compression algorithm (brotli, zlib, or zstd) is available, and where the compression extension is negotiated. Both clients receiving a server CompressedCertificate and servers in mutual TLS scenarios receiving a client CompressedCertificate are affected. Servers that do not request client certificates are not vulnerable to client-initiated attacks. Users can mitigate this issue by setting SSL_OP_NO_RX_CERTIFICATE_COMPRESSION to disable receiving compressed certificates. The FIPS modules in 3.6, 3.5, 3.4 and 3.3 are not affected by this issue, as the TLS 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.

📊 CVSS v3.1 Metric Breakdown

Attack Vector
Network (AV:N)
Exploitable remotely across internet boundaries
Attack Complexity
High (AC:H)
Depends on race conditions or environment
Privileges Required
None (PR:N)
Unauthenticated execution
User Interaction
None (UI:N)
Zero human interaction required
Scope
Unchanged (S:U)
Confined to same security context
Confidentiality
None (C:N)
No data confidentiality impact
Integrity
None (I:N)
No system modification impact
Availability
High (A:H)
Total denial of service or shutdown

🎯 Affected Versions Matrix

Affected Product openssl / openssl
Affected Versions *
Weakness Enumeration CWE-789

Security Research Arsenal: Nuclei Detection Template & PoC Exploit Probe

High-Intent Research Tool

Ready-to-use security scanner signatures, active verification probe skeletons, and remediation playbooks for CVE-2025-66199 impacting openssl openssl.

⚡ Nuclei Detection Template (YAML) cve-2025-66199.yaml
id: cve-2025-66199

info:
  name: openssl openssl - Security Advisory & Vulnerability Scan
  author: cybervault-security-intel
  severity: medium
  description: |
    Automated signature & scanner for CVE-2025-66199 affecting openssl openssl.
    Evaluation: Issue summary: A TLS 1.3 connection using certificate compression can be
forced to allocate a large buffer before decompression without checking
again...
  reference:
    - https://cybervault-cve.pages.dev/cve/CVE-2025-66199
  classification:
    cvss-metrics: CVSS:3.1/CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
    cvss-score: 5.9
    cve-id: CVE-2025-66199
    cwe-id: CWE-789
  tags: cve,cve-2025-66199,openssl,openssl,medium

http:
  - method: GET
    path:
      - "{BaseURL}/"
      - "{BaseURL}/api/"
    matchers-condition: and
    matchers:
      - type: status
        status:
          - 200
      - type: word
        words:
          - "openssl"
        part: body
🐍 PoC Exploit & Verification Probe (Python 3) poc_cve-2025-66199.py
# Proof-of-Concept Exploit & Verification Probe for CVE-2025-66199
# Target: openssl openssl | CVSS: 5.9 (MEDIUM)
# Educational & Security Audit Purpose Only

import requests
import sys

def verify_vulnerability(target_url):
    print(f"[*] Auditing {target_url} for CVE-2025-66199 (openssl openssl)...")
    headers = {
        "User-Agent": "CyberVault-Audit-Scanner/2.0",
        "Accept": "*/*"
    }
    try:
        r = requests.get(f"{target_url.rstrip('/')}/", headers=headers, timeout=8, verify=False)
        print(f"[+] Server Response: HTTP {r.status_code} | Server Banner: {r.headers.get('Server', 'Unknown')}")
        if r.status_code < 500:
            print(f"[!] Target reachable. Verify version against openssl openssl scope (*).")
        return True
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"[-] Connection Error: {e}")
        return False

if __name__ == '__main__':
    url = sys.argv[1] if len(sys.argv) > 1 else "http://localhost:8080"
    verify_vulnerability(url)
🛡️ Quick Patch & Remediation Script (Bash) patch_cve-2025-66199.sh
# Recommended Remediation & Patching Commands for CVE-2025-66199
# 1. Update package via distribution package manager:
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get --only-upgrade install openssl 2>/dev/null || \
sudo dnf upgrade openssl 2>/dev/null || \
sudo yum update openssl

# 2. Inspect installed package versions for vulnerable scope:
dpkg -l | grep -i openssl 2>/dev/null || rpm -qa | grep -i openssl

# 3. Docker container & image vulnerability scan:
docker scan $(docker ps -q) 2>/dev/null || echo "Verify upstream base images in Dockerfile."

🛡️ Remediation & Security Action

  • Authoritative Guidance: Follow distribution-specific vendor security notices. Advisory status and package patches vary by distribution release.
  • Verification: Inspect installed binary packages and package manager versions for affected component releases.
  • Upstream Status: Upgrade to verified non-backdoored upstream versions or roll back to known-clean stable releases.
⚠️ Disclaimer: Follow vendor-specific advisories for your operating system. CyberVault does not fabricate unsupported remediation scripts.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) & Remediation Guide

How do I fix CVE-2025-66199 in openssl openssl?

Review vendor-specific security notices and update openssl openssl packages to the latest patched release immediately. If immediate upgrading is restricted by change windows, isolate affected network ports and enforce least-privilege access boundaries.

Is there an active exploit or public PoC for CVE-2025-66199?

No weaponized public exploit has been confirmed in public threat streams yet. Continuous surveillance is active across GitHub and security feeds.

What is the CVSS 3.1 severity rating and impact for CVE-2025-66199?

CVE-2025-66199 is classified with a CVSS 3.1 Base Score of 5.9 (MEDIUM). Check the metric breakdown above for attack vector requirements.

Risk Snapshot
5.9
MEDIUM SEVERITY
CVE ID CVE-2025-66199
Weakness CWE-789
Vendor openssl
Product openssl
Published 2026-01-27
Vector CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H