CVE-2023-33202: Medium severity bouncycastle Bouncy Castle for Java vulnerability

Published Nov 23, 2023
·
Updated

Bouncy Castle for Java before 1.73 contains a potential Denial of Service (DoS) issue within the Bouncy Castle org.bouncycastle.openssl.PEMParser class. This class parses OpenSSL PEM encoded streams containing X.509 certificates, PKCS8 encoded keys, and PKCS7 objects. Parsing a file that has crafted ASN.1 data through the PEMParser causes an OutOfMemoryError, which can enable a denial of service attack.

Other sources

Bouncy Castle for Java is vulnerable to a denial of service, caused by a flaw in the org.bouncycastle.openssl.PEMParser class. By sending a specially crafted file, a remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability to cause a denial of service condition.

— IBM

Affected Software

17 affected componentsFixes available
maven/org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15on<1.70
maven/org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk16<1.73
1.73
maven/org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15to18<1.73
1.73
maven/org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk14<1.73
1.73
maven/org.bouncycastle:bcprov-ext-jdk16<1.73
1.73
maven/org.bouncycastle:bcprov-ext-jdk15on<1.73
1.73
maven/org.bouncycastle:bcpkix-jdk18on<1.73
1.73
maven/org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk18on<1.73
1.73
bouncycastle Bouncy Castle for Java<1.73
bouncycastle FIPS Java API<1.0.2.4
IBM Data Virtualization on Cloud Pak for Data<=3.0
IBM Watson Query on Cloud Pak for Data<=2.2
IBM Watson Query on Cloud Pak for Data<=2.1
IBM Watson Query on Cloud Pak for Data<=2.0
IBM Data Virtualization on Cloud Pak for Data<=1.8
IBM Data Virtualization on Cloud Pak for Data<=1.7
redhat/bc-java<1.7.3
1.7.3

Remediation

Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.

  1. Upgrade

    Upgrade maven/org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk16 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 1.73
  2. Upgrade

    Upgrade maven/org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15to18 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 1.73
  3. Upgrade

    Upgrade maven/org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk15 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 1.73
  4. Upgrade

    Upgrade maven/org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk14 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 1.73
  5. Upgrade

    Upgrade maven/org.bouncycastle:bcprov-ext-jdk16 to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 1.73
  6. Upgrade

    Upgrade maven/org.bouncycastle:bcprov-ext-jdk15on to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 1.73
  7. Upgrade

    Upgrade maven/org.bouncycastle:bcpkix-jdk18on to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 1.73
  8. Upgrade

    Upgrade maven/org.bouncycastle:bcprov-jdk18on to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 1.73
  9. Upgrade

    Upgrade redhat/bc-java to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 1.7.3
  10. Upgrade

    Upgrade Bouncy Castle for Java (bc-java) to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 1.73
  11. Upgrade

    Upgrade FIPS Java API (BC-FJA) to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 1.0.2.4
  12. Compensating control

    Mitigate the remote DoS risk by restricting access to systems/services that parse attacker-controlled PEM inputs (e.g., certificates/keys/PKCS7 objects) so remote attackers cannot submit crafted files to the org.bouncycastle.openssl.PEMParser.

Event History

Nov 23, 2023
CVE Published
via MITRE·12:00 AM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·12:00 AM
Description
Data Sourced
via NVD·04:15 PM
DescriptionSeverityWeaknessAffected Software
Advisory Published
via GitHub·06:30 PM
Data Sourced
via GitHub·06:30 PM
DescriptionSeverityWeaknessAffected Software
Data Sourced
via Red Hat·08:33 PM
DescriptionSeverityAffected Software
Aug 15, 2025
Data Sourced
via IBM·03:29 PM
DescriptionAffected Software

Parent advisories

This vulnerability appears in the following advisories.

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Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is the vulnerability ID for this issue?

The vulnerability ID for this issue is CVE-2023-33202.

2

What is the severity of CVE-2023-33202?

The severity of CVE-2023-33202 is high with a CVSS score of 7.5.

3

What is the affected software?

The affected software is Bouncy Castle for Java before version 1.73.

4

What is the impact of this vulnerability?

This vulnerability can lead to a Denial of Service (DoS) attack by parsing a crafted file.

5

How can I fix CVE-2023-33202?

To fix CVE-2023-33202, update Bouncy Castle for Java to version 1.73 or later.

Company

Resources

Contact

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