How severe is CVE-2019-17185?

CVE-2019-17185 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 7.5, rated high severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.

Is CVE-2019-17185 being actively exploited?

It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 2% (80th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What products are affected by CVE-2019-17185?

CVE-2019-17185 primarily affects Freeradius. In total, 2 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.

How do I fix CVE-2019-17185?

Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround. Given its high severity, prioritise patching exposed systems.

When was CVE-2019-17185 published?

CVE-2019-17185 was published on 2020-03-21 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

CVE-2019-17185

CVE-2019-17185 is a high-severity vulnerability in Freeradius with a CVSS 3.x base score of 7.5. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-662.

Key facts

Severity: High (CVSS 3.x base score 7.5)
CVSS v2: 5.0
EPSS exploit prediction: 2% (80th percentile)
Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
Weakness: CWE-662
Affected product: Freeradius
Published: 2020-03-21
Last modified: 2026-06-17

Description

In FreeRADIUS 3.0.x before 3.0.20, the EAP-pwd module used a global OpenSSL BN_CTX instance to handle all handshakes. This mean multiple threads use the same BN_CTX instance concurrently, resulting in crashes when concurrent EAP-pwd handshakes are initiated. This can be abused by an adversary as a Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2019-17185?: In FreeRADIUS 3.0.x before 3.0.20, the EAP-pwd module used a global OpenSSL BN_CTX instance to handle all handshakes. This mean multiple threads use the same BN_CTX instance concurrently, resulting in crashes when concurrent EAP-pwd handshakes are initiated. This can be abused by an adversary as a Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack.
How severe is CVE-2019-17185?: CVE-2019-17185 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 7.5, rated high severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.
Is CVE-2019-17185 being actively exploited?: It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 2% (80th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2019-17185?: CVE-2019-17185 primarily affects Freeradius. In total, 2 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.
How do I fix CVE-2019-17185?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround. Given its high severity, prioritise patching exposed systems.
When was CVE-2019-17185 published?: CVE-2019-17185 was published on 2020-03-21 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

Affected products (2)

cpe:2.3:a:freeradius:freeradius:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:opensuse:leap:15.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

More vulnerabilities in Freeradius

CVE-2019-11235 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): FreeRADIUS before 3.0.19 mishandles the "each participant verifies that the received scalar is within a range, and that…
CVE-2019-11234 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): FreeRADIUS before 3.0.19 does not prevent use of reflection for authentication spoofing, aka a "Dragonblood" issue, a…
CVE-2017-10984 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): An FR-GV-301 issue in FreeRADIUS 3.x before 3.0.15 allows "Write overflow in data2vp_wimax()" - this allows remote…
CVE-2017-10979 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): An FR-GV-202 issue in FreeRADIUS 2.x before 2.2.10 allows "Write overflow in rad_coalesce()" - this allows remote…
CVE-2017-9148 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): The TLS session cache in FreeRADIUS 2.1.1 through 2.1.7, 3.0.x before 3.0.14, 3.1.x before 2017-02-04, and 4.0.x before…
CVE-2024-3596 — Critical (CVSS 9.0): RADIUS Protocol under RFC 2865 is susceptible to forgery attacks by a local attacker who can modify any valid Response…

All CVEs affecting Freeradius →

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