openssl, openssl3 — 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, openssl3
- Affected versions
- Not specified
- Fixed versions
- 1.1.1t-r0, 3.0.8-r0
- CVEs
- CVE-2022-4450
- Confirmed fixed CVEs
- Not specified
- Updated in this feed
- 30 Oct 2026, 14:19 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:ALPINE-CVE-2022-4450
openssl
Fixed versions: 1.1.1t-r0
openssl
Fixed versions: 1.1.1t-r0
openssl
Fixed versions: 1.1.1t-r0
openssl
Fixed versions: 3.0.8-r0
openssl
Fixed versions: 3.0.8-r0
openssl
Fixed versions: 3.0.8-r0
openssl
Fixed versions: 3.0.8-r0
openssl
Fixed versions: 3.0.8-r0
openssl
Fixed versions: 3.0.8-r0
openssl
Fixed versions: 3.0.8-r0
openssl
Fixed versions: 3.0.8-r0
openssl3
Fixed versions: 3.0.8-r0
openssl3
Fixed versions: 3.0.8-r0
Complete source record
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"modified": "2026-10-15T07:17:54.273142116Z",
"provider": "osv",
"upstream": [
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"references": [
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},
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"evidence": "/upstream"
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"security_relevant": true,
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"source_id": "core-osv",
"document_id": 322044,
"published_at": "2023-02-08T20:15:23.973+00:00"
}