Reference material — not professional advice. Test in staging, back up first, verify against your specific version. Use your own judgment for your environment.
● High · CVSS 7.5

How to Fix CVE-2026-28390: OpenSSL (Bundle Sibling)

*By Sai Kiran Pandrala*

Last verified: 2026-05-25

⚡ At a glance
SeverityCVSS 7.5, High
Actively exploited?No
AffectedOpenSSL (3.6.0 < 3.6.2, 3.5.0 < 3.5.6)
Fixed inSame patched build as CVE-2026-28386
Type (CWE)CWE-476: NULL Pointer Dereference

CVE-2026-28390 is a sibling vulnerability in the same Openssl OpenSSL advisory bundle as CVE-2026-28386. The same patched build closes every CVE in the bundle, so the remediation procedure for CVE-2026-28390 matches the primary write-up.

What is different about CVE-2026-28390?

Issue summary: During processing of a crafted CMS EnvelopedData message

with KeyTransportRecipientInfo a NULL pointer dereference can happen. Impact summary: Applications that process attacker-controlled CMS data may

crash before authentication or cryptographic operations occur resulting in

Denial of Service. When a CMS EnvelopedData message that uses KeyTransportRecipientInfo with

RSA-OAEP encryption is processed, the optional parameters field of

RSA-OAEP SourceFunc algorithm identifier is e...

Impact is consistent with the bundle: a denial-of-service condition that crashes or hangs the affected service. The patched build closes every code path in the advisory in one update.

How to fix CVE-2026-28390

Apply the patched build per the primary write-up: How to Fix CVE-2026-28386.

For a quick check, confirm the running version of OpenSSL:


openssl version

Frequently asked questions

Is CVE-2026-28390 being actively exploited?

Not at the time of writing. It is not listed in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. That status can change, so monitor the vendor advisory and the KEV catalog if the system is exposed.

How severe is CVE-2026-28390?

CVSS rates it 7.5 (High). Use that score to set your patch priority alongside the other items in your queue.

Do I have to take OpenSSL offline to apply the patch?

It depends on the deployment. High-availability or clustered installs can usually patch one node at a time with no full outage. Standalone installs typically need a short restart. Always follow the vendor's documented upgrade steps.

What if my vulnerability scanner still flags CVE-2026-28390 after I patch?

Re-run the scan after a service restart, then confirm the scanner's plugin set is up to date. Some scanners detect by banner version only and lag the official fix metadata by a release.

References


*Written by Sai Kiran Pandrala. Last verified 2026-05-25. Part of the Openssl OpenSSL advisory bundle. Full procedure at how-to-fix-cve-2026-28386.*