X.509 Email Address 4-byte Buffer Overflow

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS

9.8 · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS

• CVE-2022-3602: 90.77% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 99.80 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

A buffer overrun can be triggered in X.509 certificate verification, specifically in name constraint checking. Note that this occurs after certificate chain signature verification and requires either a CA to have signed the malicious certificate or for the application to continue certificate verification despite failure to construct a path to a trusted issuer. An attacker can craft a malicious email address to overflow four attacker-controlled bytes on the stack. This buffer overflow could result in a crash (causing a denial of service) or potentially remote code execution. Many platforms implement stack overflow protections which would mitigate against the risk of remote code execution. The risk may be further mitigated based on stack layout for any given platform/compiler. Pre-announcements of CVE-2022-3602 described this issue as CRITICAL. Further analysis based on some of the mitigating factors described above have led this to be downgraded to HIGH. Users are still encouraged to…

Published by the source

1 Nov 2022, 17:45 UTC

Last modified by the source

4 Nov 2025, 22:07 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 15:39 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-8rwr-x37p-mx23

Preview the exact text before you copy it. Commands are read-only suggestions; review them before running anything.

# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2022-3602

Advisory: X.509 Email Address 4-byte Buffer Overflow
IDs: CVE-2022-3602, GHSA-8rwr-x37p-mx23
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2022-3602 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 15:39 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Critical (CVSS 9.8)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: openssl-src 300.0.11. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- crates.io openssl-src: affected >= 300.0.0, < 300.0.11; fixed in 300.0.11

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- crates.io openssl-src: check the installed version with your package manager.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on openssl-src.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-8rwr-x37p-mx23 (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-8rwr-x37p-mx23 lists affected ranges: crates.io openssl-src >=300.0.0 <300.0.11)

Commands are suggestions: review each one before running it.