OpenSSL Before 3.5.0 OOB Read via NO_PROXY triggers DoS
CVE-2025-9232 Published on September 30, 2025
Out-of-bounds read in HTTP client no_proxy handling
Issue summary: An application using the OpenSSL HTTP client API functions may
trigger an out-of-bounds read if the 'no_proxy' environment variable is set and
the host portion of the authority component of the HTTP URL is an IPv6 address.
Impact summary: An out-of-bounds read can trigger a crash which leads to
Denial of Service for an application.
The OpenSSL HTTP client API functions can be used directly by applications
but they are also used by the OCSP client functions and CMP (Certificate
Management Protocol) client implementation in OpenSSL. However the URLs used
by these implementations are unlikely to be controlled by an attacker.
In this vulnerable code the out of bounds read can only trigger a crash.
Furthermore the vulnerability requires an attacker-controlled URL to be
passed from an application to the OpenSSL function and the user has to have
a 'no_proxy' environment variable set. For the aforementioned reasons the
issue was assessed as Low severity.
The vulnerable code was introduced in the following patch releases:
3.0.16, 3.1.8, 3.2.4, 3.3.3, 3.4.0 and 3.5.0.
The FIPS modules in 3.5, 3.4, 3.3, 3.2, 3.1 and 3.0 are not affected by this
issue, as the HTTP client implementation is outside the OpenSSL FIPS module
boundary.
Vulnerability Analysis
CVE-2025-9232 is exploitable with network access, and does not require authorization privileges or user interaction. This vulnerability is consided to have a high level of attack complexity. The potential impact of an exploit of this vulnerability is considered to have no impact on confidentiality and integrity, and a high impact on availability.
Weakness Type
Out-of-bounds Read
The software reads data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer. Typically, this can allow attackers to read sensitive information from other memory locations or cause a crash. A crash can occur when the code reads a variable amount of data and assumes that a sentinel exists to stop the read operation, such as a NUL in a string. The expected sentinel might not be located in the out-of-bounds memory, causing excessive data to be read, leading to a segmentation fault or a buffer overflow. The software may modify an index or perform pointer arithmetic that references a memory location that is outside of the boundaries of the buffer. A subsequent read operation then produces undefined or unexpected results.
Products Associated with CVE-2025-9232
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Affected Versions
OpenSSL:- Version 3.5.0 and below 3.5.4 is affected.
- Version 3.4.0 and below 3.4.3 is affected.
- Version 3.3.3 and below 3.3.5 is affected.
- Version 3.2.4 and below 3.2.6 is affected.
- Version 3.0.16 and below 3.0.18 is affected.
Exploit Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) scores estimate the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. The percentile shows you how this score compares to all other vulnerabilities.