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BotanApplication · Botan Project

CVE-2022-43705

CRITICAL · 9.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-11-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.19.3 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
In Botan before 2.19.3, it is possible to forge OCSP responses due to a certificate verification error. This issue was introduced in Botan 1.11.34 (November 2016).

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 confidence

In Botan cryptographic library before 2.19.3, a certificate verification error allows forging of OCSP (Online Certificate Status Protocol) responses. This vulnerability, introduced in version 1.11.34, could enable attackers to bypass certificate revocation checks and potentially accept revoked or invalid certificates.

MitigationUpgrade Botan library to version 2.19.3 or later to patch the OCSP response forgery vulnerability.

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
BotanApplication
Affected:>= 1.11.34, < 2.19.3

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
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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. Identify if Botan library is in use
    Locate the Botan library installation in your environment. Check for files named libbotan*, botan, or headers in /usr/include/botan/ or similar paths. If using a package manager, query installed packages for 'botan' or 'libbotan'.
    Affected if Botan library is present in the environment
  2. Determine the installed Botan version
    Run the botan executable with --version flag, or inspect the library file version metadata. If included as a dependency in another application, check the application's dependency manifest or linked library version.
    Affected if The version cannot be determined or is not clearly identified
  3. Compare version against affected range
    Check if the installed version is greater than or equal to 1.11.34 and less than 2.19.3. For example, versions 1.11.34, 2.0.0, 2.19.0, 2.19.2 are all within the affected range.
    Affected if Installed version satisfies: version >= 1.11.34 AND version < 2.19.3
  4. Determine if OCSP verification is enabled
    Inspect your application or service configuration for OCSP (Online Certificate Status Protocol) usage. Look for configuration flags such as ocsp, ocsp_responder, or certificate_status_check that enable online certificate revocation checking.
    Affected if OCSP-based certificate revocation checking is enabled or used in the environment

Environment is affected if Botan library version is 1.11.34 or higher but lower than 2.19.3 AND OCSP certificate verification is in use.

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 2.19.3 or later
Fixed in 2.19.3
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Botan library to version 2.19.3 or later to patch the OCSP response forgery vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

2.19.3

  1. 1. Identify the current Botan library version in your environment (check project dependencies or installed package)
  2. 2. Download Botan version 2.19.3 or later from the official Botan website or package repository
  3. 3. Replace the existing vulnerable Botan library with the new version
  4. 4. Rebuild or recompile any applications that link against Botan to ensure they use the updated library
  5. 5. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the new Botan version

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

Fix this in Botan Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.

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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-2022-43705 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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