CVE-2016-2177

OpenSSL through 1.0.2h incorrectly uses pointer arithmetic for heap-buffer boundary checks, which might allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service…

published June 20, 2016

CVSS
—
EPSS
45%
Percentile
98.8
In the wild
Unconfirmed
What it is

⚠️ A sneaky flaw in OpenSSL could lead to unexpected heap behavior, leaving your applications vulnerable to a denial of service! 🔥 Think of this like a chef trying to measure ingredients with a broken scale — if they miscalculate, they might end up with way too much salt in the soup, ruining the whole batch. In this case, OpenSSL's pointer arithmetic mishap can lead to unexpected outcomes when managing memory, just like that unintentional soup disaster! An attacker could potentially exploit this vulnerability to crash your application, causing a denial of service. While no data loss is indicated, the downtime could be absolutely devastating for service availability. The consequences could cascade through your systems, causing frustration and loss of trust from users.

Put simply

Think of this like a chef trying to measure ingredients with a broken scale — if they miscalculate, they might end up with way too much salt in the soup, ruining the whole batch. In this case, OpenSSL's pointer arithmetic mishap can lead to unexpected outcomes when managing memory, just like that unintentional soup disaster! This vulnerability arises from OpenSSL's misuse of pointer arithmetic for heap-buffer boundary checks, particularly in files like s3_srvr.c and ssl_sess.c. This can result in an integer overflow, leading to application crashes or perhaps other unforeseen impacts driven by erratic malloc behaviors.

What to do

An attacker could potentially exploit this vulnerability to crash your application, causing a denial of service. While no data loss is indicated, the downtime could be absolutely devastating for service availability. The consequences could cascade through your systems, causing frustration and loss of trust from users. To address this flaw, ensure you upgrade OpenSSL to a patched version beyond 1.0.2h. Regularly audit your dependencies and keep an eye on updates to maintain the security of your applications. Don't let your stack get stale! You can handle this! With a quick upgrade, you'll patch this up in no time and boost your security game. 🛡️

The record
Technical detail
CVSS
Not scored
CVSS v4.0
Not supplied
EPSS
0.44505 · 98.8th percentile
Published
2016-06-20T00:00Z
EPSS history
Timeline
  • 20 JUN 00:00Z
    OpenSSL through 1.0.2h incorrectly uses pointer arithmetic for heap-buffer boundary checks, which might allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service…
    cvelistv5