CVE-2022-3996: Openssl src Denial of Service Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-vr8j-hgmm-jh9r
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-667
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2022-3996 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) denial of service vulnerability (CWE-667: Improper Locking) affecting Openssl src libraries in the crates.io ecosystem. The issue involves denial of service by double-checked locking in openssl-src. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 300.0.12.

CVE-2022-3996 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2022-3996
GHSA Identifier GHSA-vr8j-hgmm-jh9r
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-667: Improper Locking
Affected Product Openssl src
Package Ecosystem crates.io
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 7.5

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality None (C:N)
Integrity None (I:N)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2022-3996

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Openssl src dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

openssl-src fixed: 300.0.12 
Upgrade openssl-src to 300.0.12
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

inspect dependencies for openssl-src

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2022-3996, inspect your project dependencies for Openssl src:

inspect dependencies for openssl-src

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Openssl src in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 300.0.12), your application is affected.

Note: Verify declared build manifests and deployed runtime container environments.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-667: Improper Locking, where the product does not properly acquire or release a lock on a resource, leading to unexpected resource state changes and behaviors. In Openssl src, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

If an X.509 certificate contains a malformed policy constraint and policy processing is enabled, then a write lock will be taken twice recursively. On some operating systems (most widely: Windows) this results in a denial of service when the affected process hangs. Policy processing being enabled on a publicly facing server is not considered to be a common setup. Policy processing is enabled by passing the `-policy' argument to the command line utilities or by calling either `X509_VERIFY_PARAM_add0_policy()' or `X509_VERIFY_PARAM_set1_policies()' functions.

CVE-2022-3996 Affected Openssl src Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
300.0.12
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
openssl-src
 crates.io
≥ 300.0.0
< 300.0.12
300.0.12

References

NVD — CVE-2022-3996 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-3996
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/7725e7bfe6f2ce8146b6552b44e0d226be7638e7
Openssl src Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/alexcrichton/openssl-src-rs
www.openssl.org/news/secadv/2022121... WEB
https://www.openssl.org/news/secadv/20221213.txt

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2022-3996?
CVE-2022-3996 is a security vulnerability in Openssl src involving Denial of service by double-checked locking in openssl-src under CWE-667: Improper Locking.
Which Openssl src versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 300.0.12 across affected packages: openssl-src.
What version fixes CVE-2022-3996?
Upgrading to 300.0.12 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is openssl-src affected?
Yes, openssl-src is affected in releases prior to 300.0.12. Upgrade your dependency to 300.0.12 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2022-3996?
CVE-2022-3996 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2022-3996?
CVE-2022-3996 is classified under CWE-667: Improper Locking (The product does not properly acquire or release a lock on a resource, leading to unexpected resource state changes and behaviors.).
How can I check crates.io dependencies for CVE-2022-3996?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for openssl-src'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-vr8j-hgmm-jh9r",
  "modified" : "2024-10-02T18:03:42Z",
  "published" : "2022-12-13T18:30:33Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2022-3996" ],
  "summary" : "Denial of service by double-checked locking in openssl-src",
  "details" : "If an X.509 certificate contains a malformed policy constraint and policy processing is enabled, then a write lock will be taken twice recursively. On some operating systems (most widely: Windows) this results in a denial of service when the affected process hangs. Policy processing being enabled on a publicly facing server is not considered to be a common setup. Policy processing is enabled by passing the `-policy' argument to the command line utilities or by calling either `X509_VERIFY_PARAM_add0_policy()' or `X509_VERIFY_PARAM_set1_policies()' functions.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
  }, {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "score" : "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"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "crates.io",
      "name" : "openssl-src"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "300.0.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "300.0.12"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-3996"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/7725e7bfe6f2ce8146b6552b44e0d226be7638e7"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/alexcrichton/openssl-src-rs"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://www.openssl.org/news/secadv/20221213.txt"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-667" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2023-05-02T16:35:23Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2022-12-13T16:15:00Z"
  }
}