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WolfsslApplication

CVE-2022-42961

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-10-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.5.0 or later.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
An issue was discovered in wolfSSL before 5.5.0. A fault injection attack on RAM via Rowhammer leads to ECDSA key disclosure. Users performing signing operations with private ECC keys, such as in server-side TLS connections, might leak faulty ECC signatures. These signatures can be processed via an advanced technique for ECDSA key recovery. (In 5.5.0 and later, WOLFSSL_CHECK_SIG_FAULTS can be used to address the vulnerability.)

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

This vulnerability in wolfSSL before 5.5.0 allows attackers to perform fault injection attacks on RAM using Rowhammer techniques, causing faulty ECDSA signatures to be generated during signing operations. These faulty signatures can then be analyzed using advanced ECDSA key recovery algorithms to reconstruct the private ECC key, compromising TLS connections using ECC key pairs.

MitigationUpgrade to wolfSSL 5.5.0 or later, or enable WOLFSSL_CHECK_SIG_FAULTS at compile time to detect and reject faulty signatures before they can be exploited for key recovery.

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
WolfsslApplication
Affected:< 5.5.0

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
Low
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/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. Determine installed wolfSSL version
    Run 'wolfssl version' or 'wolfssl -v' from command line, or check the library linked in your application using 'ldd' or similar tool to identify the wolfSSL library file
    Affected if The version number returned is less than 5.5.0
  2. Check if ECC key exchange is enabled in wolfSSL build
    Inspect the wolfSSL compile-time configuration by checking for 'HAVE_ECC' or 'ECC' in build flags, or use 'wolfssl' command with '--help' to list supported features
    Affected if ECC support is compiled into the library and TLS connections can negotiate ECDHE or ECDHE_ECDSA cipher suites
  3. Verify if WOLFSSL_CHECK_SIG_FAULTS is defined
    Search build configuration files, Makefile, or compile flags for the presence of -DWOLFSSL_CHECK_SIG_FAULTS, or grep the wolfSSL header files for this define
    Affected if WOLFSSL_CHECK_SIG_FAULTS is NOT defined in the build (the mitigation is not enabled)
  4. Confirm active TLS connections using ECDSA keys
    Review TLS server configuration and active connections to identify if ECDSA certificates are in use, or capture TLS handshake traffic to check for cipher suites using ECDSA authentication
    Affected if The environment uses ECDSA certificates for TLS client or server authentication

You are affected if wolfSSL version is below 5.5.0 AND ECC/TLS with ECDSA keys is in use AND the WOLFSSL_CHECK_SIG_FAULTS compile-time mitigation is not enabled.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.5.0 or later
Fixed in 5.5.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to wolfSSL 5.5.0 or later, or enable WOLFSSL_CHECK_SIG_FAULTS at compile time to detect and reject faulty signatures before they can be exploited for key recovery.

Recommended fix High confidence

wolfSSL 5.5.0 or later

  1. 1. Identify all deployments and applications using wolfSSL versions prior to 5.5.0 that perform ECDSA signing operations (e.g., TLS servers using ECC keys)
  2. 2. Plan a maintenance window for the upgrade process
  3. 3. Download wolfSSL version 5.5.0 or later from the official wolfSSL repository (github.com/wolfSSL/wolfssl) or distribution package manager
  4. 4. Review the WOLFSSL_CHECK_SIG_FAULTS build option in the wolfSSL documentation to understand its functionality for detecting signature faults
  5. 5. Build and install wolfSSL 5.5.0 or later, ensuring WOLFSSL_CHECK_SIG_FAULTS is enabled if desired (define WOLFSSL_CHECK_SIG_FAULTS in build configuration)
  6. 6. Update all dependent applications and services to use the new wolfSSL library version
  7. 7. Test ECDSA signing operations in a staging environment to verify proper functionality
  8. 8. Deploy the updated library to production environments

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

Fix this in Wolfssl Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,380
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,808.

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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-2022-42961 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data