FIPS mode assertion failure via malicious CERT payload (CVE-2026-14957) | HOL Guard CVE

Unknown severity · Source severity not reportedCVE-2026-14957

FIPS mode assertion failure via malicious CERT payload

Answer in brief

CVE-2026-14957 records a Unknown severity vulnerability in FIPS mode assertion failure via malicious CERT payload. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. The current feed maps The Libreswan Project/libreswan (generic). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.

Analysis pending evidence review

HOL Guard separates source facts from reviewed analysis. See the methodology.

Published Sep 2, 2026Updated Sep 2, 2026Source checked Sep 2, 2026First seen by HOL Sep 2, 2026Material review Sep 2, 2026

Upstream Advisory

Key facts

Risk: Unknown severitySource severity not reported
Exploitation: Not marked as known exploited
Affected software: 1 mapped package or product
Fix availability: Not reported

Why this deserves its current priority

A CVSS score is not reported in the current record. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. Treat this as a source-backed prioritization signal, not a statement about your environment.

Analysis status

Analysis pending evidence review

Factual feed record only; HOL analysis is not approved for indexing. Read the methodology.

Affected scope and exposure questions

The current feed maps The Libreswan Project/libreswan (generic). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.

Mapped affected packages and fixed versions
Package	Affected range	Fixed version
The Libreswan Project/libreswangeneric	3.0	Not reported

Recommended response

Check inventory. Check lockfiles and deployed manifests for The Libreswan Project/libreswan.
Review the reported fix. Monitor this advisory for an available fix and review any installs of the affected package.

Evidence timeline and material changes

Published upstream
Sep 2, 2026
Evidence: source:cvelist:source_dates:source-dates:record
Source modified
Sep 2, 2026
Evidence: source:cvelist:source_dates:source-dates:record
First seen by HOL
Sep 2, 2026

Sources and claim methodology

Upstream source description

In FIPS mode, Libreswan's add_decoded_cert() function calls CERT_ExtractPublicKey() and asserts that the result is not NULL. However, CERT_ExtractPublicKey() returns NULL when public key extraction fails, for example if the RSA exponent is set to 0. A remote attacker can send a malformed X.509 certificate in a CERT payload to trigger the assertion, causing the pluto daemon to abort and restart. Continued exploitation causes a denial of service. No remote code execution is possible. Both IKEv1 and IKEv2 are affected. The vulnerability is only exploitable when both the OS and libreswan are running in FIPS mode and at least one CA certificate is loaded. The CERT payload is processed before peer authentication, so no credentials are needed to exploit this. Configurations using only PreSharedKey (PSK) authentication with no CA certificates loaded in the NSS database are not vulnerable.

Quoted source text, attributed separately from HOL analysis.