openssl — security advisory
The function PEM_read_bio_ex() reads a PEM file from a BIO and parses and decodes the "name" (e.g. "CERTIFICATE"), any header data and the payload data. If the function succeeds then the "name_out", "header" and "data" arguments are populated with pointers to buffers containing the relevant decoded data. The caller is responsible for freeing those buffers. It is possible to construct a PEM file that results in 0 bytes of payload data. In this case PEM_read_bio_ex() will return a failure code but will populate the header argument with a pointer to a buffer that has already been freed. If the caller also frees this buffer then a double free will occur. This will most likely lead to a crash. This could be exploited by an attacker who has the ability to supply malicious PEM files for parsing to achieve a denial of service attack. The functions PEM_read_bio() and PEM_read() are simple wrappers around PEM_read_bio_ex() and therefore these functions are also directly affected. These functions are also called indirectly by a number of other OpenSSL functions including PEM_X509_INFO_read_bio_ex() and SSL_CTX_use_serverinfo_file() which are also vulnerable. Some OpenSSL internal uses of these functions are not vulnerable because the caller does not free the header argument if PEM_read_bio_ex() returns a failure code. These locations include the PEM_read_bio_TYPE() functions as well as the decoders introduced in OpenSSL 3.0. The OpenSSL asn1parse command line application is also impacte
- Products
- openssl
- Affected versions
- Not specified
- Fixed versions
- 3.0.8-1
- CVEs
- CVE-2022-4450
- Confirmed fixed CVEs
- Not specified
- Updated in this feed
- 30 Oct 2026, 16:16 UTC · Revision 1
Source evidence
The function PEM_read_bio_ex() reads a PEM file from a BIO and parses and decodes the "name" (e.g. "CERTIFICATE"), any header data and the payload data. If the function succeeds then the "name_out", "header" and "data" arguments are populated with pointers to buffers containing the relevant decoded data. The caller is responsible for freeing those buffers. It is possible to construct a PEM file that results in 0 bytes of payload data. In this case PEM_read_bio_ex() will return a failure code but will populate the header argument with a pointer to a buffer that has already been freed. If the caller also frees this buffer then a double free will occur. This will most likely lead to a crash. This could be exploited by an attacker who has the ability to supply malicious PEM files for parsing to achieve a denial of service attack. The functions PEM_read_bio() and PEM_read() are simple wrappers around PEM_read_bio_ex() and therefore these functions are also directly affected. These functions are also called indirectly by a number of other OpenSSL functions including PEM_X509_INFO_read_bio_ex() and SSL_CTX_use_serverinfo_file() which are also vulnerable. Some OpenSSL internal uses of these functions are not vulnerable because the caller does not free the header argument if PEM_read_bio_ex() returns a failure code. These locations include the PEM_read_bio_TYPE() functions as well as the decoders introduced in OpenSSL 3.0. The OpenSSL asn1parse command line application is also impacte
osv:DEBIAN-CVE-2022-4450
openssl
Fixed versions: 3.0.8-1
openssl
Fixed versions: 3.0.8-1
openssl
Fixed versions: 3.0.8-1
Complete source record
{
"id": "67f5e38da5c9d054b6e7c0a75183f66ed43fcb2871bf82b3f24f33ff9a87aa69",
"url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/DEBIAN-CVE-2022-4450",
"method": "structured",
"payload": {
"kind": "advisory",
"title": "DEBIAN-CVE-2022-4450",
"summary": "The function PEM_read_bio_ex() reads a PEM file from a BIO and parses and decodes the \"name\" (e.g. \"CERTIFICATE\"), any header data and the payload data. If the function succeeds then the \"name_out\", \"header\" and \"data\" arguments are populated with pointers to buffers containing the relevant decoded data. The caller is responsible for freeing those buffers. It is possible to construct a PEM file that results in 0 bytes of payload data. In this case PEM_read_bio_ex() will return a failure code but will populate the header argument with a pointer to a buffer that has already been freed. If the caller also frees this buffer then a double free will occur. This will most likely lead to a crash. This could be exploited by an attacker who has the ability to supply malicious PEM files for parsing to achieve a denial of service attack. The functions PEM_read_bio() and PEM_read() are simple wrappers around PEM_read_bio_ex() and therefore these functions are also directly affected. These functions are also called indirectly by a number of other OpenSSL functions including PEM_X509_INFO_read_bio_ex() and SSL_CTX_use_serverinfo_file() which are also vulnerable. Some OpenSSL internal uses of these functions are not vulnerable because the caller does not free the header argument if PEM_read_bio_ex() returns a failure code. These locations include the PEM_read_bio_TYPE() functions as well as the decoders introduced in OpenSSL 3.0. The OpenSSL asn1parse command line application is also impacte",
"evidence": "osv:DEBIAN-CVE-2022-4450",
"products": [
{
"name": {
"value": "openssl",
"evidence": "/affected/0/package/name"
},
"prerequisites": [],
"fixed_versions": [
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"evidence": "/affected/0/ranges"
}
],
"affected_versions": []
},
{
"name": {
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},
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{
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}
],
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}
],
"severity": "high",
"structured": {
"id": "DEBIAN-CVE-2022-4450",
"aliases": [
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],
"metrics": [
{
"type": "CVSS_V3",
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
}
],
"affected": [
{
"ranges": [
{
"type": "ECOSYSTEM",
"events": [
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"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "3.0.8-1"
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],
"package": {
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"purl": "pkg:deb/debian/openssl?arch=source&distro=bookworm",
"ecosystem": "Debian:12"
},
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2022-4450.json"
},
"ecosystem_specific": {
"urgency": "not yet assigned"
}
},
{
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"package": {
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"purl": "pkg:deb/debian/openssl?arch=source&distro=trixie",
"ecosystem": "Debian:13"
},
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2022-4450.json"
},
"ecosystem_specific": {
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}
},
{
"ranges": [
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"events": [
{
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{
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],
"package": {
"name": "openssl",
"purl": "pkg:deb/debian/openssl?arch=source&distro=forky",
"ecosystem": "Debian:14"
},
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/debian-osv/debian-cve-osv/DEBIAN-CVE-2022-4450.json"
},
"ecosystem_specific": {
"urgency": "not yet assigned"
}
}
],
"modified": "2026-10-15T09:47:26.707871746Z",
"provider": "osv",
"upstream": [
"CVE-2022-4450"
],
"references": [
"https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2022-4450"
]
},
"related_cves": [
{
"value": "CVE-2022-4450",
"evidence": "/upstream"
}
],
"security_relevant": true,
"severity_evidence": "/severity/0/score"
},
"source_id": "core-osv",
"document_id": 327327,
"published_at": "2023-02-08T20:15:23.973+00:00"
}