Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2018-6459

The rsa_pss_params_parse function in libstrongswan/credentials/keys/signature_params.c in strongSwan 5.6.1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a crafted RSASSA-PSS signature that lacks a mask generation function parameter.

Security Impact Summary

This vulnerability carries a MEDIUM severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 5.3, indicating it can be exploited remotely over the network with relatively low complexity without requiring user interaction and does not require pre-existing privileges . The vulnerability impacts and limited availability for affected systems. Impacting 1 product from strongswan organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

First disclosed in 2018, this vulnerability was reported during a period defined by widespread IoT adoption challenges, mobile security concerns, and the emergence of advanced persistent threat (APT) techniques. Contemporary mitigation strategies focused on secure development practices and third-party component vetting.

Published

2018-02-20T15:29:00.430

Last Modified

2024-11-21T04:10:42.370

Status

Modified

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv3.0: 5.3 (MEDIUM)

CVSSv2 Vector

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P

Access Vector: NETWORK
Access Complexity: LOW
Authentication: NONE
Confidentiality Impact: NONE
Integrity Impact: NONE
Availability Impact: PARTIAL

Exploitability Score

10.0

Impact Score

2.9

Weaknesses

Type: Primary
CWE-347

Affected Vendors & Products

Type	Vendor	Product	Version/Range	Vulnerable?
Application	strongswan	strongswan	5.6.1	Yes

References

http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-03/msg00047.html ([email protected])
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201811-16 Third Party Advisory ([email protected])
https://www.strongswan.org/blog/2018/02/19/strongswan-vulnerability-%28cve-2018-6459%29.html ([email protected])
http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-03/msg00047.html (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201811-16 Third Party Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://www.strongswan.org/blog/2018/02/19/strongswan-vulnerability-%28cve-2018-6459%29.html (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)

How SecUtils Interprets This CVE

SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For strongswan's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.