CVE-2023-0217

HIGH

openssl-src subject to NULL dereference validating DSA public key

Published February 8, 2023Updated February 4, 2026Source: osv

Summary

An invalid pointer dereference on read can be triggered when an application tries to check a malformed DSA public key by the `EVP_PKEY_public_check()` function. This will most likely lead to an application crash. This function can be called on public keys supplied from untrusted sources which could allow an attacker to cause a denial of service attack. The TLS implementation in OpenSSL does not call this function but applications might call the function if there are additional security requirements imposed by standards such as FIPS 140-3.

Remediation

Upgrade to the fixed version using your package manager.

Cargo

Update openssl-src to 300.0.12 or later

cargo update -p openssl-src --precise 300.0.12

After upgrading, run your dependency scanner again to confirm the vulnerability is resolved.

Affected Packages (1)

Package	Ecosystem	Affected	Fixed In
openssl-src	crates.io	All versions	300.0.12

Vulnerability Classification

Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) identifiers for this vulnerability type.

CWE-476
NULL Pointer DereferenceMITRE

CVSS Score Breakdown

What the CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) 7.5 score means for each attack dimension.

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

None

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

None

Integrity

None

Availability

High

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

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2023-0217?: openssl-src subject to NULL dereference validating DSA public key This vulnerability has been assigned a severity rating of HIGH (CVSS score: 7.5/10).
How do I check if my project is affected by CVE-2023-0217?: CVE-2023-0217 affects openssl-src. Use GeekWala's free vulnerability scanner to check your dependencies against CVE-2023-0217 and 200,000+ other known vulnerabilities.

Severity & Exploitability

CVSS Score

7.5

High exploitability or significant impact. Prioritize remediation within days.

Also Known As

GHSA-vxrh-cpg7-8vjr

RUSTSEC-2023-0012

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