# CVE-2024-12401: Cert-manager: potential dos when parsing specially crafted pem inputs

> An attacker can cause a denial of service in cert-manager by providing specially crafted PEM data that consumes excessive CPU resources.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.4 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 12 Dec 2024
- **Updated:** 26 Jun 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-54313, AZL-54324, CLEANSTART-2025-GE42251, CLEANSTART-2025-OY13195, GHSA-r4pg-vg54-wxx4, GO-2024-3282, MINI-6558-q2r7-qxvh, MINI-836j-wrq4-8x8x

## What is CVE-2024-12401?

CVE-2024-12401 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Red Hat Cryostat 3, published on 12 Dec 2024. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A flaw was found in the cert-manager package. This flaw allows an attacker who can modify PEM data that the cert-manager reads, for example, in a Secret resource, to use large amounts of CPU in the cert-manager controller pod to effectively create a denial-of-service (DoS) vector for the cert-manager in the cluster.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-12401?

7 open source packages ship an affected version, including github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager` | Go | All versions | 1.12.14, 1.15.4, 1.16.2 |
| `github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager` | Go | All versions | 1.12.14 |
| `github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager` | Go | All versions | 1.12.14 |
| `github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager` | Go | From 1.13.0-alpha.0 | 1.15.4 |
| `github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager` | Go | From 1.13.0-alpha.0 | 1.15.4 |
| `github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager` | Go | From 1.16.0-alpha.0 | 1.16.2 |
| `github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager` | Go | From 1.16.0-alpha.0 | 1.16.2 |

## How do I fix CVE-2024-12401?

Upgrade github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager to a fixed version for your release line: 1.12.14, 1.15.4 or 1.16.2.

## Is CVE-2024-12401 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-12401 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2024-12401 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2024-12401 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Red Hat Cryostat 3, published on 12 Dec 2024. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-12401 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager (Go): affected all versions; fixed in 1.12.14, 1.15.4, 1.16.2
- github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager (Go): affected all versions; fixed in 1.12.14
- github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager (Go): affected all versions; fixed in 1.12.14
- github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager (Go): affected from 1.13.0-alpha.0; fixed in 1.15.4
- github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager (Go): affected from 1.13.0-alpha.0; fixed in 1.15.4
- github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager (Go): affected from 1.16.0-alpha.0; fixed in 1.16.2
- github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager (Go): affected from 1.16.0-alpha.0; fixed in 1.16.2

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-2024-12401/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-12401/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-12401
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-12401
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2024-12401

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-12401/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.