A flaw in p11-kit allows an unauthenticated local attacker who can reach the p11-kit RPC Unix domain socket to send a request with deeply nested template attributes. The RPC message attribute parsing functions call each other recursively without a depth limit, leading to stack exhaustion. When the stack overflows, the p11-kit server process crashes, which can also bring down services that depend on it, effectively causing a denial of service. The weakness is a classic case of unchecked recursion, classified as CWE‑674.

The vulnerability affects Red Hat’s p11-kit component as deployed in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, as well as in Red Hat Hardened Images and Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4. No specific affected versions of p11-kit are listed, so any installation of the component on the affected distributions may be vulnerable until patched.

The CVSS score of 6.2 indicates moderate severity; the EPSS score is not available, and the issue is not listed in CISA KEV. Exploitation requires only local access to the RPC Unix domain socket, meaning any user with file system access to that socket could trigger the crash. The attack does not require network access or elevated privileges, so the risk is significant in environments where local users can reach the socket. Because the vulnerability causes a crash rather than data disclosure, its immediate consequence is service disruption and potential availability impact.