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OpenSSLFramework / library

CVE-2022-3602

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-11-01
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.0.7 / 18.11.0 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
High EPSS Public exploit 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
A buffer overrun can be triggered in X.509 certificate verification, specifically in name constraint checking. Note that this occurs after certificate chain signature verification and requires either a CA to have signed the malicious certificate or for the application to continue certificate verification despite failure to construct a path to a trusted issuer. An attacker can craft a malicious email address to overflow four attacker-controlled bytes on the stack. This buffer overflow could result in a crash (causing a denial of service) or potentially remote code execution. Many platforms implement stack overflow protections which would mitigate against the risk of remote code execution. The risk may be further mitigated based on stack layout for any given platform/compiler. Pre-announcements of CVE-2022-3602 described this issue as CRITICAL. Further analysis based on some of the mitigating factors described above have led this to be downgraded to HIGH. Users are still encouraged to upgrade to a new version as soon as possible. In a TLS client, this can be triggered by connecting to a malicious server. In a TLS server, this can be triggered if the server requests client authentication and a malicious client connects. Fixed in OpenSSL 3.0.7 (Affected 3.0.0,3.0.1,3.0.2,3.0.3,3.0.4,3.0.5,3.0.6).

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
How this class of weakness works · CWE-787

The program writes past the bounds of a buffer, overwriting adjacent memory an attacker can turn to their advantage. Crafted input can overwrite control data and redirect execution. Remediation is validating every index and length before a write, plus modern memory-safety mitigations.

General guidance for the out-of-bounds write class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

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
OpenSSLFramework / library
Affected:>= 3.0.0, < 3.0.7
FedoraOperating system
Affected:= 36= 37= 26= 27
Node.jsApplication
Affected:>= 18.0.0, < 18.11.0= 18.12.0= 19.0.0
Clustered Data OntapApplication
Affected:all versions

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
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

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

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 3.0.7 / 18.11.0 or later
Fixed in 3.0.718.11.0
Recommended fix High confidence

OpenSSL 3.0.7+; Node.js 18.12.1+/19.1.0+; Fedora updated packages via dnf

  1. Identify which product uses the affected OpenSSL version (OpenSSL 3.0.0-3.0.6, Node.js 18.0.0-18.11.0/18.12.0/19.0.0, or Fedora 26/27/36/37)
  2. For OpenSSL: Upgrade to OpenSSL 3.0.7 or later from the official OpenSSL repository or your operating system vendor
  3. For Node.js: Upgrade to Node.js 18.12.1, 18.13.0 or later, or Node.js 19.1.0 or later to receive the OpenSSL fix bundled with Node.js
  4. For Fedora: Run 'dnf update openssl' or 'dnf update' to apply security patches
  5. For Clustered Data ONTAP: Contact NetApp support for the specific patch, as all versions are affected
  6. After upgrading, restart any services that use OpenSSL (web servers, TLS-enabled applications) to load the fixed version
  7. Verify the fix by checking OpenSSL version (openssl version) or Node.js version (node -v)
Caveat Minor: OpenSSL 3.0.7 is a patch release within the 3.0.x branch with no expected breaking changes; verify application compatibility after upgrade

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

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $3,200. Get the upgrade done

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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-2022-3602 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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