openssl-src vulnerable to Use-after-free following BIO_new_NDEF

Exploitation

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

CVSS

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

EPSS

• CVE-2023-0215: 5.02% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 92.27 (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.

The public API function BIOnewNDEF is a helper function used for streaming ASN.1 data via a BIO. It is primarily used internally to OpenSSL to support the SMIME, CMS and PKCS7 streaming capabilities, but may also be called directly by end user applications. The function receives a BIO from the caller, prepends a new BIOfasn1 filter BIO onto the front of it to form a BIO chain, and then returns the new head of the BIO chain to the caller. Under certain conditions, for example if a CMS recipient public key is invalid, the new filter BIO is freed and the function returns a NULL result indicating a failure. However, in this case, the BIO chain is not properly cleaned up and the BIO passed by the caller still retains internal pointers to the previously freed filter BIO. If the caller then goes on to call BIOpop() on the BIO then a use-after-free will occur. This will most likely result in a crash. This scenario occurs directly in the internal function B64writeASN1() which may cause…

Published by the source

8 Feb 2023, 22:28 UTC

Last modified by the source

4 Nov 2025, 22:09 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 15:39 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-r7jw-wp68-3xch

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2023-0215

Advisory: openssl-src vulnerable to Use-after-free following `BIO_new_NDEF`
IDs: CVE-2023-0215, GHSA-r7jw-wp68-3xch
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2023-0215 (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: High (CVSS 7.5)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: openssl-src 300.0.12, 111.25.0. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- crates.io openssl-src: affected < 111.25.0; >= 300.0.0, < 300.0.12; fixed in 111.25.0, 300.0.12

## 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-r7jw-wp68-3xch (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-r7jw-wp68-3xch lists affected ranges: crates.io openssl-src >=0 =300.0.0 <300.0.12)

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