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OpenSSLFramework / library

CVE-2023-3446

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-07-19
Patch available
A vendor patch is available. No clean upgrade release — apply the published patch.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click Patch available

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
Issue summary: Checking excessively long DH keys or parameters may be very slow. Impact summary: Applications that use the functions DH_check(), DH_check_ex() or EVP_PKEY_param_check() to check a DH key or DH parameters may experience long delays. Where the key or parameters that are being checked have been obtained from an untrusted source this may lead to a Denial of Service. The function DH_check() performs various checks on DH parameters. One of those checks confirms that the modulus ('p' parameter) is not too large. Trying to use a very large modulus is slow and OpenSSL will not normally use a modulus which is over 10,000 bits in length. However the DH_check() function checks numerous aspects of the key or parameters that have been supplied. Some of those checks use the supplied modulus value even if it has already been found to be too large. An application that calls DH_check() and supplies a key or parameters obtained from an untrusted source could be vulernable to a Denial of Service attack. The function DH_check() is itself called by a number of other OpenSSL functions. An application calling any of those other functions may similarly be affected. The other functions affected by this are DH_check_ex() and EVP_PKEY_param_check(). Also vulnerable are the OpenSSL dhparam and pkeyparam command line applications when using the '-check' option. The OpenSSL SSL/TLS implementation is not affected by this issue. The OpenSSL 3.0 and 3.1 FIPS providers are not affected by this issue.

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

A detailed technical summary for this CVE is being prepared.

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:= 1.0.2= 1.1.1= 3.0.0= 3.1.0= 3.1.1

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
Low

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

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
Patch available Apply the vendor patch
Vendor patch git.openssl.org →
Recommended fix High confidence

OpenSSL 1.1.1w (or later 1.1.1x); OpenSSL 3.0.10 (or later 3.0.x); OpenSSL 3.1.2 (or later 3.1.x); OpenSSL 1.0.2zh (or later 1.0.2)

  1. Identify all systems and applications running OpenSSL versions 1.0.2, 1.1.1, 3.0.0, or 3.1.0
  2. Obtain the fixed OpenSSL version from your operating system vendor or from https://www.openssl.org/source/
  3. For OpenSSL 1.1.1: Upgrade to version 1.1.1w or later (1.1.1x series)
  4. For OpenSSL 3.0.x: Upgrade to version 3.0.10 or later
  5. For OpenSSL 3.1.x: Upgrade to version 3.1.2 or later
  6. For OpenSSL 1.0.2: Upgrade to version 1.0.2zh or later
  7. After upgrading, restart any services that depend on OpenSSL (web servers, VPN gateways, etc.)
  8. Verify the upgrade was successful by running 'openssl version' and confirming the version number
Caveat This is a bugfix release with no expected breaking changes. Standard library upgrades only.

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

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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-2023-3446 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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