Vulnerability HighRUSTSEC-2023-0009 · openssl-src
RUSTSEC-2023-0009: Use-after-free following `BIO_new_NDEF`
Short answerA security vulnerability in the openssl-src crate: Use-after-free following `BIO_new_NDEF`. GitHub rates it High. Fixed in 111.25.0, 300.0.12: update to a fixed version.
| Crate | openssl-src |
|---|---|
| Type | Vulnerability (denial-of-service) |
| Affected versions | Before 111.25.0; from 300.0.0 before 300.0.12. |
| Fixed in | 111.25.0, 300.0.12 |
| Severity | High (GitHub rating) |
| Published | 2023-02-07 |
| Last changed | 2023-11-08 |
| Also known as | CVE-2023-0215, GHSA-r7jw-wp68-3xch |
What to do
- See which version you have:
cargo tree -i openssl-src(it also shows which of your dependencies pulls it in). - Update within your version requirement:
cargo update -p openssl-src. If the fix is a newer major or minor than your requirement allows, raise it in Cargo.toml (for exampleopenssl-src = "300.0.12") or update the dependency that pulls it in. - Check again with
cargo audit, or paste your Cargo.lock into our Cargo.toml checker.
Details from the advisory
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.
References
- Package: crates.io/crates/openssl-src
- Advisory: rustsec.org/advisories/RUSTSEC-2023-0009.html
- Web: www.openssl.org/news/secadv/20230207.txt
From the RustSec Advisory Database (CC0-1.0) via the OSV export, downloaded Oct 24, 2026. Severity score computed from the published CVSS vector.
Other advisories for openssl-src
- Vulnerability HighRUSTSEC-2020-0015 · 2020-04-25Crash causing Denial of Service attack
- Vulnerability MediumRUSTSEC-2021-0055 · 2021-05-01NULL pointer deref in signature_algorithms processing
- Vulnerability HighRUSTSEC-2021-0056 · 2021-05-01CA certificate check bypass with X509_V_FLAG_X509_STRICT
- Vulnerability HighRUSTSEC-2021-0057 · 2021-05-01Integer overflow in CipherUpdate
- Vulnerability MediumRUSTSEC-2021-0058 · 2021-05-01Null pointer deref in `X509_issuer_and_serial_hash()`
- Vulnerability CriticalRUSTSEC-2021-0097 · 2021-08-24SM2 Decryption Buffer Overflow
- Vulnerability HighRUSTSEC-2021-0098 · 2021-08-24Read buffer overruns processing ASN.1 strings
- VulnerabilityRUSTSEC-2021-0129 · 2021-12-14Invalid handling of `X509_verify_cert()` internal errors in libssl
Up next
Same crateopenssl-src: security historyEvery advisory for this crate, and whether it is safe to use today.Read it next →Did this answer your question?