# CVE-2025-15468: NULL dereference in SSL_CIPHER_find() function on unknown cipher ID

> A NULL pointer dereference in OpenSSL's QUIC implementation allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via unknown cipher suites.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.9 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/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:** 27 Jan 2026
- **Updated:** 29 Jan 2026
- **Also known as:** ALPINE-CVE-2025-15468, AZL-75278, BELL-CVE-2025-15468, CLEANSTART-2026-IP06314, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-15468, GHSA-rhx3-fg8p-f9m4, JLSEC-2026-257, MINI-7x48-3chp-3mg4, MINI-mp2m-wjv9-45g9, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-15468

## What is CVE-2025-15468?

CVE-2025-15468 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Openssl Openssl, published on 27 Jan 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Issue summary: If an application using the SSL_CIPHER_find() function in
a QUIC protocol client or server receives an unknown cipher suite from
the peer, a NULL dereference occurs.

Impact summary: A NULL pointer dereference leads to abnormal termination of
the running process causing Denial of Service.

Some applications call SSL_CIPHER_find() from the client_hello_cb callback
on the cipher ID received from the peer. If this is done with an SSL object
implementing the QUIC protocol, NULL pointer dereference will happen if
the examined cipher ID is unknown or unsupported.

As it is not very common to call this function in applications using the QUIC 
protocol and the worst outcome is Denial of Service, the issue was assessed
as Low severity.

The vulnerable code was introduced in the 3.2 version with the addition
of the QUIC protocol support.

The FIPS modules in 3.6, 3.5, 3.4 and 3.3 are not affected by this issue,
as the QUIC implementation is outside the OpenSSL FIPS module boundary.

OpenSSL 3.6, 3.5, 3.4 and 3.3 are vulnerable to this issue.

OpenSSL 3.0, 1.1.1 and 1.0.2 are not affected by this issue.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-15468?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Openssl Openssl.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-15468?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-15468 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-15468 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Openssl Openssl

- [CVE-2009-3245](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-3245/): Null dereference in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2006-3738](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2006-3738/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2026-63073](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-63073/): Untrusted Sender DN Used as Format String in CMP Response Validation (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2016-6309](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-6309/): Use after free in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2016-0799](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-0799/): Integer overflow in n/a (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-15468 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-15468 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Openssl Openssl, published on 27 Jan 2026. 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-2025-15468 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Openssl Openssl. 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-2025-15468/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-15468/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-15468
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-15468
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-15468

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-15468/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.