CVE-2026-28388: NULL Pointer Dereference When Processing a Delta CRL

Is it exploited?

Not on CISA's list. CISA has not added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog as of 29 Oct 2026. If CISA adds it, this page shows it as known exploited.

How likely is exploitation in the next 30 days?

0.9%

EPSS score, percentile 59.1 of all scored records. A probability estimated by FIRST, not a report of exploitation.

How severe?

7.5 High

CVSS v3.1 base score, from CISA's enrichment of the record

What should I do?

CISA has set no required action, because the vulnerability is not in KEV.

Advisories and patches (6)

Which versions are affected?

Affected

• from 3.6.0 to before 3.6.2
• from 3.5.0 to before 3.5.6
• from 3.4.0 to before 3.4.5
• from 3.3.0 to before 3.3.7
• from 3.0.0 to before 3.0.20
• from 1.1.1 to before 1.1.1zg

and 1 more in the table below

Versions by product

Source: CISA KEV 2026.10.29, as of 29 Oct 2026; FIRST EPSS, as of 29 Oct 2026; CVE List, as of 29 Oct 2026. About the data.

What to do

Advisories and patches

• 3.6.2 git commit (Patch)
• 3.5.6 git commit (Patch)
• 3.4.5 git commit (Patch)
• 3.3.7 git commit (Patch)
• 3.0.20 git commit (Patch)
• OpenSSL Advisory (Vendor advisory)

This summary is based on the CVE record as of 29 Oct 2026. Check the vendor's advisory before you act: affected versions and fixes can change.

Affected products and versions

As listed in the CVE record.

Versions not listed are: unaffected.

Source: CVE List, as of 29 Oct 2026. About the data.

About this vulnerability

Issue summary: When a delta CRL that contains a Delta CRL Indicator extension is processed a NULL pointer dereference might happen if the required CRL Number extension is missing. Impact summary: A NULL pointer dereference can trigger a crash which leads to a Denial of Service for an application. When CRL processing and delta CRL processing is enabled during X.509 certificate verification, the…

Summary: CVE record, as of 29 Oct 2026.

• CISA has not added CVE-2026-28388 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, as of 29 Oct 2026.
• The CVE record was published on 7 Apr 2026.
• The CVE record carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (High), taken from CISA's enrichment of the record.
• FIRST's EPSS model puts the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.9% (percentile 59.1), as of 29 Oct 2026. EPSS is a statistical estimate, not a report of exploitation.
• CISA's SSVC assessment in the CVE record: exploitation none, automatable yes, technical impact partial.
• The credits in the CVE record name AISLE as finder.

Source: CISA KEV 2026.10.29, as of 29 Oct 2026; CVE List, as of 29 Oct 2026; FIRST EPSS, as of 29 Oct 2026. About the data.

Description

NULL Pointer Dereference When Processing a Delta CRL

Issue summary: When a delta CRL that contains a Delta CRL Indicator extension is processed a NULL pointer dereference might happen if the required CRL Number extension is missing. Impact summary: A NULL pointer dereference can trigger a crash which leads to a Denial of Service for an application. When CRL processing and delta CRL processing is enabled during X.509 certificate verification, the delta CRL processing does not check whether the CRL Number extension is NULL before dereferencing it. When a malformed delta CRL file is being processed, this parameter can be NULL, causing a NULL pointer dereference. Exploiting this issue requires the X509_V_FLAG_USE_DELTAS flag to be enabled in the verification context, the certificate being verified to contain a freshestCRL extension or the base CRL to have the EXFLAG_FRESHEST flag set, and an attacker to provide a malformed CRL to an application that processes it. The vulnerability is limited to Denial of Service and cannot be escalated to achieve code execution or memory disclosure. 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 affected code is outside the OpenSSL FIPS module boundary.

Source: CVE List, as of 29 Oct 2026. About the data.

Timeline

Known exploited OpenSSL vulnerabilities

• CVE-2014-0160: OpenSSL Information Disclosure Vulnerability (added 4 May 2022)