Description
The ASN.1 parser (pluto/asn1.c, libstrongswan/asn1/asn1.c, libstrongswan/asn1/asn1_parser.c) in (a) strongSwan 2.8 before 2.8.10, 4.2 before 4.2.16, and 4.3 before 4.3.2; and (b) openSwan 2.6 before 2.6.22 and 2.4 before 2.4.15 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (pluto IKE daemon crash) via an X.509 certificate with (1) crafted Relative Distinguished Names (RDNs), (2) a crafted UTCTIME string, or (3) a crafted GENERALIZEDTIME string.
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | strongswan | 4.2.14-1.2 | — |
| Debian 13 | strongswan | 4.2.14-1.2 | — |
| Debian 12 | strongswan | 4.2.14-1.2 | — |
| Debian 5.0 | openswan | 1:2.4.12+dfsg-1.3+lenny2 | DSA-1898-1 |
| Debian 5.0 | strongswan | 4.2.4-5+lenny3 | DSA-1899-1 |
| Debian 4.0 | openswan | 1:2.4.6+dfsg.2-1.1+etch2 | DSA-1898-1 |
| Debian 4.0 | strongswan | 2.8.0+dfsg-1+etch2 | DSA-1899-1 |
Red Hat
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| RHEL 5 | openswan +1 | 2.6.14-1.el5_3.3 | RHSA-2009:1138 |
Advisories 3
- RHSA-2009:1138 Red Hat Security Advisory: openswan security update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Jun 26, 2026
- DSA-1898-1 openswan - denial of service Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Mar 9, 2026
- DSA-1899-1 strongswan - denial of service Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Mar 9, 2026
References
- ADV-2009-1639 vdb-entry
- 35740 third-party-advisory
- http://www.ingate.com/Relnote.php?ver=481
- 1022428 vdb-entry
- RHSA-2009:1138 vendor-advisory
- ADV-2009-1706 vdb-entry
- oval:org.mitre.oval:def:11079 vdb-entry signature
- 36950 third-party-advisory
- 35522 third-party-advisory
- 36922 third-party-advisory
- 37504 third-party-advisory
- DSA-1899 vendor-advisory
- 35452 vdb-entry
- http://download.strongswan.org/CHANGES42.txt
- http://download.strongswan.org/CHANGES2.txt
- http://up2date.astaro.com/2009/07/up2date_7404_released.html
- DSA-1898 vendor-advisory
- ADV-2009-1829 vdb-entry
- FEDORA-2009-7478 vendor-advisory
- 35698 third-party-advisory
- ADV-2009-3354 vdb-entry
- http://download.strongswan.org/CHANGES4.txt
- FEDORA-2009-7423 vendor-advisory
- 35804 third-party-advisory