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StrongmanApplication · Strongswan

CVE-2026-25998

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-02-19
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
strongMan is a management interface for strongSwan, an OpenSource IPsec-based VPN. When storing credentials in the database (private keys, EAP secrets), strongMan encrypts the corresponding database fields. So far it used AES in CTR mode with a global database key. Together with an initialization vector (IV), a key stream is generated to encrypt the data in the database fields. But because strongMan did not generate individual IVs, every database field was encrypted using the same key stream. An attacker that has access to the database can use this to recover the encrypted credentials. In particular, because certificates, which have to be considered public information, are also encrypted using the same mechanism, an attacker can directly recover a large chunk of the key stream, which allows them to decrypt basically all other secrets especially ECDSA private keys and EAP secrets, which are usually a lot shorter. Version 0.2.0 fixes the issue by switching to AES-GCM-SIV encryption with a random nonce and an individually derived encryption key, using HKDF, for each encrypted value. Database migrations are provided to automatically re-encrypt all credentials.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

strongMan used AES-CTR mode with a global database key and static initialization vectors, causing all encrypted database fields to use the same key stream. Since certificates (public data) were encrypted the same way, an attacker with database access could recover the key stream and decrypt sensitive credentials like ECDSA private keys and EAP secrets.

MitigationUpgrade to strongMan version 0.2.0 or later, which implements AES-GCM-SIV encryption with random nonces and HKDF-derived individual keys for each value. Run the provided database migrations to re-encrypt all existing credentials.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
StrongmanApplication
Affected:= 0.1.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify strongMan installation and version
    Run 'pip show strongman' or check your package manager for the installed strongMan version
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 0.1.0
  2. Locate the strongMan database
    Find the database file used by strongMan (commonly SQLite, check configuration for database path)
    Affected if A database file exists and contains encrypted fields
  3. Inspect encryption configuration
    Review strongMan configuration files or source code for encryption settings, looking for AES-CTR mode implementation
    Affected if AES-CTR mode is used for encryption rather than AES-GCM-SIV
  4. Check for static initialization vectors
    Examine the encryption implementation or stored ciphertexts to determine if initialization vectors are static/reused across different fields
    Affected if The same IV or no unique IV is used for different encrypted values
  5. Verify credential storage format
    Check if ECDSA private keys or EAP secrets are stored in the database in encrypted form
    Affected if Sensitive credentials are stored encrypted in the database using the vulnerable method

If strongMan version 0.1.0 is installed with AES-CTR encryption using a global key and static IVs, the environment is affected by this vulnerability.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to strongMan version 0.2.0 or later, which implements AES-GCM-SIV encryption with random nonces and HKDF-derived individual keys for each value. Run the provided database migrations to re-encrypt all existing credentials.

Recommended fix High confidence

Version 0.2.0

  1. 1. Back up the existing strongMan database before migration
  2. 2. Upgrade strongMan to version 0.2.0
  3. 3. Run database migrations to re-encrypt all credentials with the new AES-GCM-SIV mechanism
  4. 4. Verify that all credentials are accessible after migration
Caveat Database migration required; ensure backup before upgrading as migration is irreversible

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Strongman Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-25998 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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