PatchSiren

PatchSiren cyber security CVE debrief

CVE-2016-8212 Dell CVE debrief

CVE-2016-8212 is a high-severity certificate-validation flaw in EMC RSA BSAFE Crypto-J versions prior to 6.2.2. The issue affects OCSP response handling: when a response omits nextUpdate, Crypto-J may treat that response as valid indefinitely instead of limiting acceptance to a short window around thisUpdate. That weakens revocation checking for affected deployments and is similar to CVE-2015-4748.

Vendor
Dell
Product
CVE-2016-8212
CVSS
HIGH 7.5
CISA KEV
Not listed in stored evidence
Original CVE published
2017-02-03
Original CVE updated
2026-05-13
Advisory published
2017-02-03
Advisory updated
2026-05-13

Who should care

Organizations that use EMC RSA BSAFE Crypto-J in Java applications, PKI-dependent services, or any workflow that relies on OCSP for certificate revocation status should review exposure. Security teams responsible for certificate validation, application platform maintenance, and cryptographic libraries should prioritize it.

Technical summary

OCSP responses can include thisUpdate and nextUpdate timestamps, but both are optional. According to the CVE description and NVD record, Crypto-J prior to 6.2.2 mishandles responses that omit nextUpdate by treating them as valid indefinitely rather than restricting validity to a brief period around thisUpdate. The NVD entry classifies the issue as CWE-404 and assigns CVSS 3.1 7.5 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N).

Defensive priority

High. The flaw affects trust decisions in certificate validation and can undermine revocation checking in affected systems, so remediation should be treated as a priority for any environment using vulnerable Crypto-J versions.

Recommended defensive actions

  • Upgrade EMC RSA BSAFE Crypto-J to version 6.2.2 or later.
  • Inventory applications and services that embed or depend on Crypto-J and confirm whether they use OCSP-based certificate validation.
  • Review OCSP handling and ensure certificate validation logic rejects stale responses and does not treat missing nextUpdate as indefinite validity.
  • Monitor vendor and third-party advisories referenced in the record for deployment-specific remediation guidance.
  • If immediate upgrade is not possible, reduce exposure by limiting reliance on affected validation paths and compensating with stricter certificate lifecycle controls.

Evidence notes

The CVE description states that EMC RSA BSAFE Crypto-J versions prior to 6.2.2 have an improper OCSP validation vulnerability because missing nextUpdate values are treated as indefinitely valid. The NVD record lists the vulnerable CPE range ending before 6.2.2, CVSS 3.1 7.5, and CWE-404. References in the official record point to EMC security_alert material and third-party advisories, including SecurityFocus and SecurityTracker.

Official resources

Publicly disclosed and published in the CVE record on 2017-02-03T07:59:00.357Z; the supplied NVD snapshot was later modified on 2026-05-13T00:24:29.033Z. The record references EMC security_alert material and third-party advisories.