CVE-2023-2975

AES-SIV implementation ignores empty associated data entries

MEDIUM
5.3
CVSS Score
Published: July 14, 2023 at 11:16 AM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 05:53 AM UTC
3 products affected across 2 vendorsOpenSSLONTAP Select Deploy administration utilityManagement Services for Element Software and NetApp HCI

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Severity
MEDIUM5.3
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.6%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

Issue summary: The AES-SIV cipher implementation contains a bug that causes it to ignore empty associated data entries which are unauthenticated as a consequence. Impact summary: Applications that use the AES-SIV algorithm and want to authenticate empty data entries as associated data can be misled by removing, adding or reordering such empty entries as these are ignored by the OpenSSL implementation. We are currently unaware of any such applications. The AES-SIV algorithm allows for authentication of multiple associated data entries along with the encryption. To authenticate empty data the application has to call EVP_EncryptUpdate() (or EVP_CipherUpdate()) with NULL pointer as the output buffer and 0 as the input buffer length. The AES-SIV implementation in OpenSSL just returns success for such a call instead of performing the associated data authentication operation. The empty data thus will not be authenticated. As this issue does not affect non-empty associated data authentication and we expect it to be rare for an application to use empty associated data entries this is qualified as Low severity issue.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

3.0.0 ≤ v ≤ 3.0.93.0.0 ≤ v < 3.0.103.1.0 ≤ v ≤ 3.1.13.1.0 ≤ v < 3.1.23.0.03.1.0
Affected range stops below 3.0.10, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 3.1.2, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitAutomatablePartial impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

5.3MEDIUMCISA-ADP
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
LOW
Availability
NONE
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
CWE-354CWE-287

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