CVE-2023-39914: BER/CER/DER decoder panics on invalid input

Severity: high (CVSS 7.5 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.7% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2023-09-13 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-232

Description

NLnet Labs' bcder library up to and including version 0.7.2 panics while decoding certain invalid input data rather than rejecting the data with an error. This can affect both the actual decoding stage as well as accessing content of types that utilized delayed decoding.

Affected products

NLnet Labs bcder: before 0.7.3 — fixed in 0.7.3

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: NLnet Labs bcder 0.7.3. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

https://nlnetlabs.nl/downloads/bcder/CVE-2023-39914.txt
https://nlnetlabs.nl/downloads/bcder/CVE-2023-39914.txt

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