CVE-2022-3996
7.5 · HIGHOverview
CVE-2022-3996 is a high-severity vulnerability affecting openssl openssl. It was published on December 13, 2022 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH).
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.5, rated HIGH. It can be exploited remotely over the network. No authentication or special privileges are required for exploitation.
Technical Description
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 the
`X509_VERIFY_PARAM_set1_policies()' function.
Update (31 March 2023): The description of the policy processing enablement
was corrected based on CVE-2023-0466.
Remediation
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from openssl. Update openssl to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
Affected Products
| Vendor | Product | Versions | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| openssl | openssl | 3.0.0 | Affected |
References
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2022-3996?
CVE-2022-3996 is a high-severity vulnerability affecting openssl openssl. It was published on December 13, 2022 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH).
How severe is CVE-2022-3996?
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.5, rated HIGH. It can be exploited remotely over the network. No authentication or special privileges are required for exploitation.
How do I fix or remediate CVE-2022-3996?
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from openssl. Update openssl to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
How can CyberStrike help with CVE-2022-3996?
CyberStrike's AI-powered security agents can automatically detect CVE-2022-3996 across your infrastructure using autonomous pentesting, DAST scanning, and HackBrowser. The platform continuously monitors for known vulnerabilities and provides actionable remediation guidance prioritized by real-world exploitability.
How CyberStrike Helps
AI agents map your attack surface to find vulnerabilities like this one.
Automated penetration testing that runs continuously, not just quarterly.
AI-driven PR review catches vulnerable dependencies before they ship.
Browser-based exploitation validates findings with real proof-of-concept.
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