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CVE-2026-88823OpenSSL vulnerability

Low priorityNot scoredEPSS not scored yet

CVE-2026-88823 is a vulnerability in OpenSSL, not yet scored.

Why this priority: Not scored yet, and no exploitation signal.

Published · Updated · NVD status: Awaiting Analysis

What it is

The record does not classify the weakness yet; the description below says what the reporter found.

How it is reached

The record does not say yet how the flaw is reached; the description below is the best guide until it is scored.

What an attacker gains

Its impact has not been scored yet.

Is it being exploited?

There is no public report of exploitation yet.

What to do

  1. Upgrade OpenSSL to a fixed version for your release line (4.1.1, 4.0.4, 3.5.10).

Description from NVD

Issue summary: The AES-GCM-SIV implementation treats a zero-length Additional Authenticated Data (AAD) update as a reset of all the AAD supplied so far, instead of leaving the AAD unchanged. An application that supplies its AAD in several fragments, one of which is empty, therefore produces or verifies messages whose authentication tag does not cover the AAD supplied before the empty fragment.

Impact summary: Data an application intended to authenticate alongside a message is silently left unauthenticated. An attacker can forge the AAD of such a message.

CWE: CWE-325: Missing Cryptographic Step

Description: An application passing AAD in multiple chunks of which some have zero length will have the previous AAD chunks effectively unauthenticated. Also, on context re-initialisation, the AAD was not reset, which meant that any AAD accumulated from the previous context usage were also included in the AAD of the new message.

The fix makes a zero-length AAD update a no-op and clears any accumulated AAD whenever the context is re-initialised with a key or a nonce. A re-initialisation that only changes parameters keeps the AAD.

FIPS impact: no The FIPS modules are not affected, as AES-GCM-SIV is not a FIPS approved algorithm and is implemented only in the default provider, outside the OpenSSL FIPS module boundary.

What this means for your architecture.

A CVE names a product. Whether it matters depends on where that product sits in your systems: what reaches it, which trust boundary it guards and what it can reach once compromised. Veriom maps your components, their relationships and your trust boundaries from your code, cloud and delivery evidence, so you can see where a component like this sits. The radar itself does not look at your systems.

Components it touches

  • OpenSSL. Start from where it runs and what it is connected to.

Trust boundaries in play

    Questions to answer about your own systems

    • Where does OpenSSL run in your systems, and at which version?
    • Which of those instances are reachable by people you do not trust?
    • What can it reach once compromised: which data stores, secrets and services?

    Sources

    • CVE records and CVSS scores from the NVD CVE API. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
    • Exploitation status from CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
    • Exploit likelihood from FIRST’s Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), refreshed daily.
    • Explanations are written by Veriom from fixed templates over each record’s data, not by a person reviewing each CVE. Descriptions are quoted from the records as published.