Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-8721

Published
17 May 2026
Modified
17 June 2026
CVSS Score v3.1 9.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0045 37th percentile
Risk Priority 71 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-8721 is a critical-severity Improper Null Termination (CWE-170) vulnerability. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 37th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-15 (Development Process, Standards, and Tools) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Crypt::OpenSSL::PKCS12 versions through 1.94 for Perl truncates passwords with embedded NULLs. Password parameters in PKCS12.xs are declared char *, which routes through Perl's default typemap to SvPV_nolen. The Perl length is discarded. The C code (or OpenSSL internally) calls strlen()…

more

on the buffer. Any password byte at or after the first NULL is silently dropped. Binary / KDF-derived / HMAC-derived passwords lose entropy without any warnings.

CWE(s)
CWE-170

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
attack.mitre.org →
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-36906Shared CWE-170
CVE-2024-31197Shared CWE-170
CVE-2026-32837Shared CWE-170
CVE-2024-43474Shared CWE-170
CVE-2025-2026Shared CWE-170
CVE-2024-31484Shared CWE-170
CVE-2026-40334Shared CWE-170
CVE-2025-67790Shared CWE-170
CVE-2023-28263Shared CWE-170
CVE-2023-48674Shared CWE-170

Affected Assets

—
PKCS12
inferred from references and description; NVD did not file a CPE for this CVE

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer testing and evaluation can discover missing or incorrect string termination during code review or dynamic analysis.

SA-15 Development Process, Standards, and Tools partial match

Requiring documented development standards and tools can enforce safe string-handling practices that produce correct null termination.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly enforce correct string/array termination via coding standards, reviews, and static analysis.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing in development can detect missing or incorrect null terminators before release.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure SDLC mandates input validation and string handling rules that prevent missing null terminators.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements can explicitly call for proper string termination and buffer handling.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
degrades

Secure architecture principles include defensive coding practices that address buffer and string termination issues.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards directly require correct null termination of strings and arrays.

References