# CVE-2023-50980: Denial of service in n/a

> Attackers can crash applications using Crypto++ by providing malformed DER public-key data for F(2^m) curves, causing a denial of service.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 18 Dec 2023
- **Updated:** 2 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2023-50980, GHSA-x2gw-hrqg-xq6x, JLSEC-2026-1272, SUSE-SU-2023:4957-1, SUSE-SU-2024:0030-1, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-50980, openSUSE-SU-2024:13528-1

## What is CVE-2023-50980?

CVE-2023-50980 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 18 Dec 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

gf2n.cpp in Crypto++ (aka cryptopp) through 8.9.0 allows attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) via DER public-key data for an F(2^m) curve, if the degree of each term in the polynomial is not strictly decreasing.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-50980?

It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `libcryptopp` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP5 | All versions | 8.6.0-150400.3.3.1 |
| `libcryptopp` | SUSE:Linux Enterprise Real Time 15 SP4 | All versions | 8.6.0-150400.3.3.1 |
| `libcryptopp` | openSUSE:Leap 15.4 | All versions | 5.6.5-150000.1.9.1 |
| `libcryptopp` | openSUSE:Leap 15.4 | All versions | 8.6.0-150400.3.3.1 |
| `libcryptopp` | openSUSE:Leap 15.5 | All versions | 8.6.0-150400.3.3.1 |
| `libcryptopp` | openSUSE:Tumbleweed | All versions | 8.9.0-1.1 |

Products: Cryptopp Crypto\+\+.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-50980?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-50980 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-50980 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2023-50981](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-50981/): Denial of service in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2022-48570](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48570/): Information disclosure in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2016-3995](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-3995/): Information disclosure in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2016-7544](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-7544/): Use after free in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2016-9939](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-9939/): Denial of service in n/a (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-50980 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-50980 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in n/a, published on 18 Dec 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-50980 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-50980/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-50980/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-50980
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-50980
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-50980

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-50980/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.