GHSA-vrh7-x64v-7vxq — openssl-src
HIGHGHSA-vrh7-x64v-7vxq is a high-severity (CVSS 7.5) NULL Pointer Dereference vulnerability in openssl-src. A fix is available for openssl-src — see the affected versions and patch details below.
openssl-src contains `NULL` dereference during PKCS7 data verification
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-vrh7-x64v-7vxq.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
GHSA-vrh7-x64v-7vxq plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 377,333 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
openssl-srcReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects crates.io packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
A NULL pointer can be dereferenced when signatures are being verified on PKCS7 signed or signedAndEnveloped data. In case the hash algorithm used for the signature is known to the OpenSSL library but the implementation of the hash algorithm is not available the digest initialization will fail. There is a missing check for the return value from the initialization function which later leads to invalid usage of the digest API most likely leading to a crash. The unavailability of an algorithm can be caused by using FIPS enabled configuration of providers or more commonly by not loading the legacy provider.
PKCS7 data is processed by the SMIME library calls and also by the time stamp (TS) library calls. The TLS implementation in OpenSSL does not call these functions however third party applications would be affected if they call these functions to verify signatures on untrusted data.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🦀crates.io | openssl-src | ≥ 300.0.0&&< 300.0.12 | 300.0.12cargo update -p openssl-src --precise 300.0.12 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for openssl-src, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update openssl-src to 300.0.12 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-vrh7-x64v-7vxq is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like GHSA-vrh7-x64v-7vxq can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-vrh7-x64v-7vxq. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, 7, and 8 ships OpenSSL 1.1.1 and 1.0.2 which do not contain the incorrect code, so those are not affected by this CVE. Similarly, the versions of `shim` as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 and 9 are not affected by this issue.
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | openssl-1:3.0.1-47.el9_1 | RHSA-2023:0946 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.0 Extended Update Support | openssl-1:3.0.1-46.el9_0 | RHSA-2023:1199 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-vrh7-x64v-7vxq in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-vrh7-x64v-7vxq across crates.io dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.