OpenSSL up to 3.3.2 Elliptic Curve API EC_GROUP_new_curve_GF2m out-of-bounds write

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in OpenSSL up to 3.3.2. Affected by this issue is the function EC_GROUP_new_curve_GF2m of the component Elliptic Curve API. Such manipulation leads to out-of-bounds write. This vulnerability is listed as CVE-2024-9143. The attack may be performed from remote. There is no available exploit. You should upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in OpenSSL up to 3.3.2 and classified as critical. Affected by this issue is the function EC_GROUP_new_curve_GF2m of the component Elliptic Curve API. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a out-of-bounds write vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-787. The product writes data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

Issue summary: Use of the low-level GF(2^m) elliptic curve APIs with untrusted explicit values for the field polynomial can lead to out-of-bounds memory reads or writes. Impact summary: Out of bound memory writes can lead to an application crash or even a possibility of a remote code execution, however, in all the protocols involving Elliptic Curve Cryptography that we're aware of, either only "named curves" are supported, or, if explicit curve parameters are supported, they specify an X9.62 encoding of binary (GF(2^m)) curves that can't represent problematic input values. Thus the likelihood of existence of a vulnerable application is low. In particular, the X9.62 encoding is used for ECC keys in X.509 certificates, so problematic inputs cannot occur in the context of processing X.509 certificates. Any problematic use-cases would have to be using an "exotic" curve encoding. The affected APIs include: EC_GROUP_new_curve_GF2m(), EC_GROUP_new_from_params(), and various supporting BN_GF2m_*() functions. Applications working with "exotic" explicit binary (GF(2^m)) curve parameters, that make it possible to represent invalid field polynomials with a zero constant term, via the above or similar APIs, may terminate abruptly as a result of reading or writing outside of array bounds. Remote code execution cannot easily be ruled out. The FIPS modules in 3.3, 3.2, 3.1 and 3.0 are not affected by this issue.

The advisory is shared for download at openssl-library.org. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2024-9143 since 09/24/2024. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be launched remotely. No form of authentication is required for exploitation. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available. The current price for an exploit might be approx. USD $5k-$25k (estimation calculated on 04/20/2026).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 209154 (OpenSSL 3.1.0 < 3.1.8 Vulnerability), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 1.0.2zl, 1.1.1zb, 3.0.16, 3.1.8, 3.2.4 or 3.3.3 eliminates this vulnerability. The upgrade is hosted for download at github.openssl.org. Applying the patch 9d576994cec2b7aa37a91740ea7e680810957e41 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at github.openssl.org. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (209154) and CERT Bund (WID-SEC-2026-1118). VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

Affected

• Dell PowerProtect Data Domain OS

Productinfo

Type

• Network Encryption Software

Name

• OpenSSL

Version

• 1.0.2za
• 1.0.2zb
• 1.0.2zc
• 1.0.2zd
• 1.0.2ze
• 1.0.2zf
• 1.0.2zg
• 1.0.2zh
• 1.0.2zi
• 1.0.2zj
• 1.0.2zk
• 1.1.1za
• 3.0.0
• 3.0.1
• 3.0.2
• 3.0.3
• 3.0.4
• 3.0.5
• 3.0.6
• 3.0.7
• 3.0.8
• 3.0.9
• 3.0.10
• 3.0.11
• 3.0.12
• 3.0.13
• 3.0.14
• 3.0.15
• 3.1.0
• 3.1.1
• 3.1.2
• 3.1.3
• 3.1.4
• 3.1.5
• 3.1.6
• 3.1.7
• 3.2.0
• 3.2.1
• 3.2.2
• 3.2.3
• 3.3.0
• 3.3.1
• 3.3.2

License

• open-source

Website

• Product: https://www.openssl.org/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

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