CVE-2023-0215

Use-after-free following BIO_new_NDEF

HIGH
7.5
CVSS Score
Published: February 8, 2023 at 07:03 PM UTC
Updated: October 14, 2026 at 07:16 PM UTC
2 products affected across 2 vendorsOpenSSLStormshield Management Center

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Severity
HIGH7.5
Exploit prediction
EPSS 5%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

The public API function BIO_new_NDEF 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 BIO_f_asn1 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 BIO_pop() 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 B64_write_ASN1() which may cause BIO_new_NDEF() to be called and will subsequently call BIO_pop() on the BIO. This internal function is in turn called by the public API functions PEM_write_bio_ASN1_stream, PEM_write_bio_CMS_stream, PEM_write_bio_PKCS7_stream, SMIME_write_ASN1, SMIME_write_CMS and SMIME_write_PKCS7. Other public API functions that may be impacted by this include i2d_ASN1_bio_stream, BIO_new_CMS, BIO_new_PKCS7, i2d_CMS_bio_stream and i2d_PKCS7_bio_stream. The OpenSSL cms and smime command line applications are similarly affected.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

1.0.2 ≤ v < 1.0.2zg1.1.1 ≤ v < 1.1.1t3.0.0 ≤ v < 3.0.81.0.21.1.13.0.0
Affected range stops below 1.0.2zg, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 1.1.1t, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 3.0.8, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
v < 3.3.3
Affected range stops below 3.3.3, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitAutomatablePartial impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

7.5HIGHCISA-ADP
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
NONE
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
CWE-416

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