# CVE-2025-69421: NULL Pointer Dereference in PKCS12_item_decrypt_d2i_ex function

> Attackers can cause a denial of service by providing a malformed PKCS#12 file to applications using the OpenSSL library.

- **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:** 27 Jan 2026
- **Updated:** 15 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** ALPINE-CVE-2025-69421, AZL-75287, AZL-75911, AZL-76113, AZL-76170, AZL-76212, AZL-78549, BELL-CVE-2025-69421, CLEANSTART-2026-FN19131, CLEANSTART-2026-FN35430, CLSA-2026-1770717529, CLSA-2026-1770804736, CLSA-2026-1770820398, CLSA-2026-1770820922, CLSA-2026-1770821221, CLSA-2026-1770917492, CLSA-2026-1771003241, CLSA-2026-1771003612, CLSA-2026-1771004260, DEBIAN-CVE-2025-69421, ECHO-0529-49f7-34d9, GHSA-w9rv-xc8m-cmqp, JLSEC-2026-265, MINI-2rhv-564p-55qf, MINI-5fwx-pgcg-m63x, MINI-xxq5-p4qf-3jj6, OESA-2026-1371, ROOT-OS-ALPINE-315-CVE-2025-69421, UBUNTU-CVE-2025-69421

## What is CVE-2025-69421?

CVE-2025-69421 is a high-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: Processing a malformed PKCS#12 file can trigger a NULL pointer
dereference in the PKCS12_item_decrypt_d2i_ex() function.

Impact summary: A NULL pointer dereference can trigger a crash which leads to
Denial of Service for an application processing PKCS#12 files.

The PKCS12_item_decrypt_d2i_ex() function does not check whether the oct
parameter is NULL before dereferencing it. When called from
PKCS12_unpack_p7encdata() with a malformed PKCS#12 file, this parameter can
be NULL, causing a crash. The vulnerability is limited to Denial of Service
and cannot be escalated to achieve code execution or memory disclosure.

Exploiting this issue requires an attacker to provide a malformed PKCS#12 file
to an application that processes it. For that reason the issue was assessed as
Low severity according to our Security Policy.

The FIPS modules in 3.6, 3.5, 3.4, 3.3 and 3.0 are not affected by this issue,
as the PKCS#12 implementation is outside the OpenSSL FIPS module boundary.

OpenSSL 3.6, 3.5, 3.4, 3.3, 3.0, 1.1.1 and 1.0.2 are vulnerable to this issue.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-69421?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Openssl Openssl.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-69421?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2025-69421 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-69421 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code:

- https://github.com/Kha-Beleh/PoC-CVE-2025-69421 (github_poc): https://github.com/Kha-Beleh/PoC-CVE-2025-69421

## 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-2025-69421 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-69421 is a high-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-2025-69421 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-2025-69421/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-69421/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-69421
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-69421
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-69421

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-69421/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.