CVE-2025-32989: Improper Certificate Validation
A heap-buffer-overread vulnerability was found in GnuTLS in how it handles the Certificate Transparency (CT) Signed Certificate Timestamp (SCT) extension during X.509 certificate parsing. This flaw allows a malicious user to create a certificate containing a malformed SCT extension (OID 1.3.6.1.4.1.11129.2.4.2) that contains sensitive data. This issue leads to the exposure of confidential information when GnuTLS verifies certificates from certain websites when the certificate (SCT) is not checked correctly.
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
The vulnerability CVE-2025-32989 exists in the GnuTLS library's parsing of the SCT extension (OID 1.3.6.1.4.1.11129.2.4.2) within X.509 certificates. Due to improper validation, a heap-buffer-overread can occur when processing a malformed SCT extension, potentially exposing confidential information. This issue is present in GnuTLS versions shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 and 10. Red Hat has issued security advisories RHSA-2025:16115 and RHSA-2025:16116 that include patches fixing this vulnerability alongside other related GnuTLS security issues.
Potential Impact
The vulnerability allows exposure of sensitive data during certificate verification when a malformed SCT extension is present. The CVSS v3.1 score is 5.3 (medium severity), reflecting network attack vector with no privileges or user interaction required, and impacts confidentiality only. There are no known exploits in the wild at this time. The issue affects systems using vulnerable GnuTLS versions on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 and 10.
Mitigation Recommendations
Red Hat has released updated GnuTLS packages for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 and 10 that fix this vulnerability. Users should apply these official security updates as described in Red Hat advisories RHSA-2025:16115 and RHSA-2025:16116. The vendor advisory confirms that these updates address the issue, so applying the patches is the recommended remediation. Patch status is official-fix and available from Red Hat.
CVE-2025-32989: Improper Certificate Validation
Description
A heap-buffer-overread vulnerability was found in GnuTLS in how it handles the Certificate Transparency (CT) Signed Certificate Timestamp (SCT) extension during X.509 certificate parsing. This flaw allows a malicious user to create a certificate containing a malformed SCT extension (OID 1.3.6.1.4.1.11129.2.4.2) that contains sensitive data. This issue leads to the exposure of confidential information when GnuTLS verifies certificates from certain websites when the certificate (SCT) is not checked correctly.
AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
The vulnerability CVE-2025-32989 exists in the GnuTLS library's parsing of the SCT extension (OID 1.3.6.1.4.1.11129.2.4.2) within X.509 certificates. Due to improper validation, a heap-buffer-overread can occur when processing a malformed SCT extension, potentially exposing confidential information. This issue is present in GnuTLS versions shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 and 10. Red Hat has issued security advisories RHSA-2025:16115 and RHSA-2025:16116 that include patches fixing this vulnerability alongside other related GnuTLS security issues.
Potential Impact
The vulnerability allows exposure of sensitive data during certificate verification when a malformed SCT extension is present. The CVSS v3.1 score is 5.3 (medium severity), reflecting network attack vector with no privileges or user interaction required, and impacts confidentiality only. There are no known exploits in the wild at this time. The issue affects systems using vulnerable GnuTLS versions on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 and 10.
Mitigation Recommendations
Red Hat has released updated GnuTLS packages for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 and 10 that fix this vulnerability. Users should apply these official security updates as described in Red Hat advisories RHSA-2025:16115 and RHSA-2025:16116. The vendor advisory confirms that these updates address the issue, so applying the patches is the recommended remediation. Patch status is official-fix and available from Red Hat.
Technical Details
- Data Version
- 5.1
- Assigner Short Name
- redhat
- Date Reserved
- 2025-04-15T01:31:12.104Z
- Cvss Version
- 3.1
- State
- PUBLISHED
- Vendor Advisory Urls
- [{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:16115","vendor":"Red Hat"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:16116","vendor":"Red Hat"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:17181","vendor":"Red Hat"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:17348","vendor":"Red Hat"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:17361","vendor":"Red Hat"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:19088","vendor":"Red Hat"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2025:22529","vendor":"Red Hat"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:7477","vendor":"Red Hat"},{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2025-32989","vendor":"Red Hat"}]
Threat ID: 686f76caa83201eaaca669d2
Added to database: 7/10/2025, 8:16:10 AM
Last enriched: 4/22/2026, 6:10:30 AM
Last updated: 5/10/2026, 5:06:11 AM
Views: 224
Community Reviews
0 reviewsCrowdsource mitigation strategies, share intel context, and vote on the most helpful responses. Sign in to add your voice and help keep defenders ahead.
Want to contribute mitigation steps or threat intel context? Sign in or create an account to join the community discussion.
Actions
Updates to AI analysis require Pro Console access. Upgrade inside Console → Billing.
Need more coverage?
Upgrade to Pro Console for AI refresh and higher limits.
For incident response and remediation, OffSeq services can help resolve threats faster.
Latest Threats
Check if your credentials are on the dark web
Instant breach scanning across billions of leaked records. Free tier available.