CVE-2017-3737

OpenSSL 1.0.2 (starting from version 1.0.2b) introduced an "error state" mechanism

published December 7, 2017

Patch now

High probability of exploitation

NVD has not assigned a CVSS score to this record. It sits in the 99.6th percentile for exploit probability.

CVSS
—
EPSS
79%
Percentile
99.6
In the wild
Unconfirmed
What it is

OpenSSL 1.0.2 (starting from version 1.0.2b) introduced an "error state" mechanism. The intent was that if a fatal error occurred during a handshake then OpenSSL would move into the error state and would immediately fail if you attempted to continue the handshake. This works as designed for the explicit handshake functions (SSL_do_handshake(), SSL_accept() and SSL_connect()), however due to a bug it does not work correctly if SSL_read() or SSL_write() is called directly. In that scenario, if the handshake fails then a fatal error will be returned in the initial function call. If SSL_read()/SSL_write() is subsequently called by the application for the same SSL object then it will succeed and the data is passed without being decrypted/encrypted directly from the SSL/TLS record layer. In order to exploit this issue an application bug would have to be present that resulted in a call to SSL_read()/SSL_write() being issued after having already received a fatal error. OpenSSL version 1.0.2b-1.0.2m are affected. Fixed in OpenSSL 1.0.2n. OpenSSL 1.1.0 is not affected.

The record
Technical detail
CVSS
Not scored
CVSS v4.0
Not supplied
EPSS
0.78675 · 99.6th percentile
Published
2017-12-07T16:00Z
EPSS history
Timeline
  • 07 DEC 16:00Z
    OpenSSL 1.0.2 (starting from version 1.0.2b) introduced an "error state" mechanism
    cvelistv5