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NVD / CVE Program· CNA openssl

CVE-2022-3996: X.509 Policy Constraints Double Locking

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 30/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 1.3% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 70.8% of all records.
  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. No account or password is required. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • According to CISA the attack is automatable: targets can be found by mass scanning.
  • Fixed version: openssl3 (Alpine:v3.15) 3.0.8-r0; openssl (Alpine:v3.17) 3.0.7-r2; openssl-src (crates.io) 300.0.12.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to openssl3 (Alpine:v3.15) 3.0.8-r0; openssl (Alpine:v3.17) 3.0.7-r2; openssl-src (crates.io) 300.0.12 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

If an X.509 certificate contains a malformed policy constraint and policy processing is enabled, then a write lock will be taken twice recursively. On some operating systems (most widely: Windows) this results in a denial of service when the affected process hangs. Policy processing being enabled on a publicly facing server is not considered to be a common setup. Policy processing is enabled by passing the `-policy' argument to the command line utilities or by calling the `X509_VERIFY_PARAM_set1_policies()' function. Update (31 March 2023): The description of the policy processing enablement was corrected based on CVE-2023-0466.

HighCVSS 7.5 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available
Published
Dec 13, 2022
Updated
Jun 17, 2026
EPSS
1.3% · 70th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

30

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
30 / 40 · 7.5 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 1.3%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
none
Automatable
yes
Technical impact
partial

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • A fix has been released

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

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When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
opensslopenssl

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The OpenSSL version can't be seen from outside; the free SSL checker tests your certificate, enabled TLS versions and weak ciphers. Confirm the version on your server with the package manager.

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Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • openssl openssl3.0.0 and later · up to 3.0.7 inclusive

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (openssl). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • OpenSSL OpenSSL

    • 3.0.0 and later · up to and including 3.0.7affected · semver

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Alpine:v3.15openssl3before 3.0.8-r03.0.8-r0
Alpine:v3.17opensslfrom 3.0.0 · before 3.0.7-r23.0.7-r2
crates.ioopenssl-srcfrom 300.0.0 · before 300.0.12300.0.12
Debian:12opensslbefore 3.0.7-23.0.7-2
openSUSE:Leap 15.4openssl-3before 3.0.1-150400.4.14.13.0.1-150400.4.14.1
openSUSE:Tumbleweedopenssl-3before 3.0.7-2.13.0.7-2.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP4openssl-3before 3.0.1-150400.4.14.13.0.1-150400.4.14.1

Same product

openssl: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2014-0160The (1) TLS and (2) DTLS implementations in OpenSSL 1.0.1 before 1.0.1g do not properly handle Heartbeat Extension packets, which allows remKEV
    90Now
  • CVE-2021-3711SM2 Decryption Buffer Overflow
    65This week
  • CVE-2003-0545Double free vulnerability in OpenSSL 0.9.7 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) and possibly execute arbitrary code
    65This week

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2022-3602Nov 1, 2022 · X.509 Email Address 4-byte Buffer Overflow
    57Plan
  • ← EarlierCVE-2022-3786Nov 1, 2022 · X.509 Email Address Variable Length Buffer Overflow
    58Plan
  • Later →CVE-2023-0216Feb 8, 2023 · Invalid pointer dereference in d2i_PKCS7 functions
    31Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
alpine:openssl3.0.7-r2 · Alpine:v3.17Package registry (OSV)
alpine:openssl33.0.8-r0 · Alpine:v3.15Package registry (OSV)
crates.io:openssl-src300.0.12Package registry (OSV)
debian:openssl3.0.7-2 · Debian:12Package registry (OSV)
opensuse:openssl-33.0.1-150400.4.14.1 · openSUSE:Leap 15.4Package registry (OSV)
suse:openssl-33.0.1-150400.4.14.1 · SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP4Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

No history yet (it accumulates with the daily EPSS job).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
none
Integrity
none
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
None
Integrity impact
None
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-667 · Improper Locking

CVSS vector

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

nvd-primary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

Show all references (2 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records