Vulnerability Report

CVE-2022-0778

Title: Tenable Nessus Denial of Service (DoS)

DoS

Proof Of Concept

PoC Available for CVE-2022-0778

CWE Category CWE-835

Published Date Mar 15, 2022

Modified Date May 22, 2026

Exploit Status Available

Score 7.5 CVSS v3.1

Exploit Probability (EPSS)

7.54%

Vulnerability Summary

CVE-2022-0778: The BN_mod_sqrt() function, which computes a modular square root, contains a bug that can cause it to loop forever for non-prime moduli. Internally this function is used when parsing certificates that contain elliptic curve public keys in compressed form or explicit elliptic curve parameters with a base point encoded in compressed form. It is possible to trigger the infinite loop by crafting a certificate that has invalid explicit curve parameters. Since certificate parsing happens prior to verification of the certificate signature, any process that parses an externally supplied certificate may thus be subject to a denial of service attack. The infinite loop can also be reached when parsing crafted private keys as they can contain explicit elliptic curve parameters. Thus vulnerable situations include: - TLS clients consuming server certificates - TLS servers consuming client certificates - Hosting providers taking certificates or private keys from customers - Certificate authorities parsing certification requests from subscribers - Anything else which parses ASN.1 elliptic curve parameters Also any other applications that use the BN_mod_sqrt() where the attacker can control the parameter values are vulnerable to this DoS issue. In the OpenSSL 1.0.2 version the public key is not parsed during initial parsing of the certificate which makes it slightly harder to trigger the infinite loop. However any operation which requires the public key from the certificate will trigger the infinite loop. In particular the attacker can use a self-signed certificate to trigger the loop during verification of the certificate signature. This issue affects OpenSSL versions 1.0.2, 1.1.1 and 3.0. It was addressed in the releases of 1.1.1n and 3.0.2 on the 15th March 2022. Fixed in OpenSSL 3.0.2 (Affected 3.0.0,3.0.1). Fixed in OpenSSL 1.1.1n (Affected 1.1.1-1.1.1m). Fixed in OpenSSL 1.0.2zd (Affected 1.0.2-1.0.2zc).

Impacted Vendors

Reference Links

http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/167344/OpenSSL-1.0.2-1.1.1-3.0-BN_mod_sqrt-Infinite-Loop.html http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2022/May/33 http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2022/May/35 http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2022/May/38 https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/pdf/ssa-712929.pdf https://git.openssl.org/gitweb/?p=openssl.git%3Ba=commitdiff%3Bh=3118eb64934499d93db3230748a452351d1d9a65 https://git.openssl.org/gitweb/?p=openssl.git%3Ba=commitdiff%3Bh=380085481c64de749a6dd25cdf0bcf4360b30f83 https://git.openssl.org/gitweb/?p=openssl.git%3Ba=commitdiff%3Bh=a466912611aa6cbdf550cd10601390e587451246 https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2022/03/msg00023.html https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2022/03/msg00024.html https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/323SNN6ZX7PRJJWP2BUAFLPUAE42XWLZ/ https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/GDB3GQVJPXJE7X5C5JN6JAA4XUDWD6E6/ https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/W6K3PR542DXWLEFFMFIDMME4CWMHJRMG/ https://psirt.global.sonicwall.com/vuln-detail/SNWLID-2022-0002 https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202210-02 https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20220321-0002/ https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20220429-0005/ https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20240621-0006/ https://support.apple.com/kb/HT213255 https://support.apple.com/kb/HT213256 https://support.apple.com/kb/HT213257 https://www.debian.org/security/2022/dsa-5103 https://www.openssl.org/news/secadv/20220315.txt https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujul2022.html https://www.tenable.com/security/tns-2022-06 https://www.tenable.com/security/tns-2022-07 https://www.tenable.com/security/tns-2022-08 https://www.tenable.com/security/tns-2022-09 http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/167344/OpenSSL-1.0.2-1.1.1-3.0-BN_mod_sqrt-Infinite-Loop.html http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2022/May/33 http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2022/May/35 http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2022/May/38 https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/pdf/ssa-712929.pdf https://git.openssl.org/gitweb/?p=openssl.git%3Ba=commitdiff%3Bh=3118eb64934499d93db3230748a452351d1d9a65 https://git.openssl.org/gitweb/?p=openssl.git%3Ba=commitdiff%3Bh=380085481c64de749a6dd25cdf0bcf4360b30f83 https://git.openssl.org/gitweb/?p=openssl.git%3Ba=commitdiff%3Bh=a466912611aa6cbdf550cd10601390e587451246 https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2022/03/msg00023.html https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2022/03/msg00024.html https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/323SNN6ZX7PRJJWP2BUAFLPUAE42XWLZ/ https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/GDB3GQVJPXJE7X5C5JN6JAA4XUDWD6E6/ https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/W6K3PR542DXWLEFFMFIDMME4CWMHJRMG/ https://psirt.global.sonicwall.com/vuln-detail/SNWLID-2022-0002 https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202210-02 https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20220321-0002/ https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20220429-0005/ https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20240621-0006/ https://support.apple.com/kb/HT213255 https://support.apple.com/kb/HT213256 https://support.apple.com/kb/HT213257 https://www.debian.org/security/2022/dsa-5103 https://www.openssl.org/news/secadv/20220315.txt https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuapr2022.html https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpujul2022.html https://www.tenable.com/security/tns-2022-06 https://www.tenable.com/security/tns-2022-07 https://www.tenable.com/security/tns-2022-08 https://www.tenable.com/security/tns-2022-09

CVSS v3.1

Source Entity 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

Severity HIGH

7.5

Attack Vector

NETWORK

Complexity

LOW

Privileges

N/A

Interaction

NONE

Confidentiality

N/A

Integrity

N/A

Availability

N/A

Scope

UNCHANGED

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

CVSS v3.1

Source Entity [email protected]

Severity HIGH

7.5

Attack Vector

NETWORK

Complexity

LOW

Privileges

N/A

Interaction

NONE

Confidentiality

N/A

Integrity

N/A

Availability

N/A

Scope

UNCHANGED

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

CVSS v2.0

Source Entity [email protected]

Severity MEDIUM

5.0

Access Vector

N/A

Authentication

N/A

RAW VECTOR AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P

Associated Attack Patterns (CAPEC)

Total: Patterns

CVE-2022-0778 Exploits & PoCs (Proof Of Concept)

GitHub https://github.com/drago-96/CVE-2022-0778

View Code

GitHub https://github.com/jkakavas/CVE-2022-0778-POC

View Code

GitHub https://github.com/yywing/cve-2022-0778

View Code

May 22, 2026 MODIFIED