CVE-2023-43522
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 · uneditedTransient DOS while key unwrapping process, when the given encrypted key is empty or NULL.
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 confidenceThis is a denial-of-service vulnerability in the key unwrapping process of a cryptographic library. When an attacker provides an empty or NULL encrypted key to the unwrapping function, it causes a transient service disruption. The vulnerability requires no authentication and can be exploited remotely.
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 dataall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsCVSS 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
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 the device chipset or firmwareDetermine the model and manufacturer of the network device, WiFi access point, or IoT device. Check product documentation, device labels, or administrative interface for chipset information. Look for references to Qualcomm Aqt1000, Ar8035, Ar9380, Csr8811, Csra6620, Csra6640, Csrb31024, or Fastconnect 6200.Affected if The device uses any of the listed Qualcomm firmware components (Aqt1000, Ar8035, Ar9380, Csr8811, Csra6620, Csra6640, Csrb31024, or Fastconnect 6200)
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Check the firmware versionAccess the device administrative interface or use firmware extraction tools to retrieve the installed firmware version. For command-line access, use commands like 'cat /proc/version', 'dmesg', or vendor-specific diagnostic commands.Affected if The firmware version matches any of the affected Qualcomm products (the advisory states all versions are affected)
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Confirm key unwrapping functionality is exposedIdentify if the device exposes key management interfaces, WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup), or any cryptographic key import functions. Check network service listeners using 'netstat -an' or 'ss -tuln'. Review API endpoints or management interfaces that accept encrypted key material.Affected if The device exposes key unwrapping, key import, or WPS functionality over network or administrative interfaces
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Verify input validation existsReview configuration settings or firmware changelogs for evidence of input validation on key import functions. Check if the device rejects malformed or empty key inputs with proper error handling rather than causing a service disruption.Affected if No input validation is implemented for key unwrapping operations, or empty/NULL keys are processed without rejection
If the device contains any of the listed Qualcomm firmware components and exposes key unwrapping functionality without input validation for empty or NULL keys, the environment is affected by this CVE.
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.
From vendor dataImplement input validation to reject empty or NULL encrypted keys before processing in the key unwrapping function. Add proper error handling that gracefully rejects invalid input without causing a service disruption.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-43522 — 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-2023-43522 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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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.
- 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
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