CVE-2018-20997
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 · uneditedAn issue was discovered in the openssl crate before 0.10.9 for Rust. A use-after-free occurs in CMS Signing.
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 · moderate confidenceA use-after-free vulnerability exists in the Rust openssl crate (versions before 0.10.9) within the CMS (Cryptographic Message Syntax) signing functionality. This memory safety issue allows attackers to potentially execute arbitrary code by freeing memory that is still being accessed.
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< 0.10.9CVSS 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
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify openssl crate usageSearch your project for Cargo.toml and check the dependencies section for the 'openssl' crate entryAffected if The openssl crate is listed as a dependency in Cargo.toml
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Check openssl crate versionInspect Cargo.lock file and locate the [[package]] entry for name="openssl" to find the installed version numberAffected if The version field shows a number lower than 0.10.9 (e.g., 0.10.8, 0.10.7, etc.)
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Verify CMS signing is usedSearch your codebase for imports or usage of cms::sign, Signer, or CMS-related functions from the openssl crateAffected if Your code invokes CMS signing functions from the openssl crate (the vulnerability only triggers when CMS signing is performed)
You are affected if your project depends on the openssl crate version below 0.10.9 AND your code performs CMS signing operations.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scoped0.10.9
Upgrade the openssl Rust crate to version 0.10.9 or later, then rebuild and test all CMS signing operations to verify the fix.
openssl crate version 0.10.9 or later
- Check the current version of the openssl crate in your Cargo.toml file
- Update the openssl crate dependency to version 0.10.9 or later (e.g., openssl = "0.10.9")
- Run `cargo update` to fetch the new crate version
- Rebuild the project with `cargo build` to apply the fixed crate
- Verify the openssl crate version is now 0.10.9 or later using `cargo tree | grep openssl`
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-20997 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2018-20997 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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