#VU61391 Infinite loop in OpenSSL - CVE-2022-0778

Vulnerability identifier: #VU61391

Vulnerability risk: Medium

CVSSv4.0: 7.7 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P/U:Green]

CVE-ID: CVE-2022-0778

CWE-ID: CWE-835

Exploitation vector: Network

Exploit availability: Yes

Vulnerable software:
OpenSSL
Server applications / Encryption software

Vendor: OpenSSL Software Foundation

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to perform a denial of service (DoS) attack.

The vulnerability exists due to infinite loop within the BN_mod_sqrt() function when processing an ASN.1 certificate that contains elliptic curve public keys in compressed form or explicit elliptic curve parameters with a base point encoded in compressed form. A remote attacker can supply a specially crafted certificate to the TLS server or client, consume all available system resources and cause denial of service conditions.

Mitigation
Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

OpenSSL: 1.0, 1.0.0 - 1.0.0t, 1.0.1e-25.el7 - 1.0.1u, 1.0.2 - 1.0.2zd, 1.1.1 - 1.1.1n, 3.0.0 - 3.0.2

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External links
https://git.openssl.org/gitweb/?p=openssl.git;a=commitdiff;h=380085481c64de749a6dd25cdf0bcf4360b30f83
https://www.openssl.org/news/secadv/20220315.txt
https://git.openssl.org/gitweb/?p=openssl.git;a=commitdiff;h=a466912611aa6cbdf550cd10601390e587451246
https://git.openssl.org/gitweb/?p=openssl.git;a=commitdiff;h=3118eb64934499d93db3230748a452351d1d9a65

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Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?