CVE-2022-38153
An issue was discovered in wolfSSL before 5.5.0 (when --enable-session-ticket is used); however,...
An issue was discovered in wolfSSL before 5.5.0 (when --enable-session-ticket is used); however, only version 5.3.0 is exploitable. Man-in-the-middle attackers or a malicious server can crash TLS 1.2 clients during a handshake. If an attacker injects a large ticket (more than 256 bytes) into a NewSessionTicket message in a TLS 1.2 handshake, and the client has a non-empty session cache, the session cache frees a pointer that points to unallocated memory, causing the client to crash with a "free(): invalid pointer" message. NOTE: It is likely that this is also exploitable during TLS 1.3 handshakes between a client and a malicious server. With TLS 1.3, it is not possible to exploit this as a man-in-the-middle.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
NVD Score used
5.9
An issue was discovered in wolfSSL before 5.5.0 (when --enable-session-ticket is used); however, only version 5.3.0 is exploitable. Man-in-the-middle attackers or a malicious server can crash TLS 1.2 clients during a handshake. If an attacker injects a large ticket (more than 256 bytes) into a NewSessionTicket message in a TLS 1.2 handshake, and the client has a non-empty session cache, the session cache frees a pointer that points to unallocated memory, causing the client to crash with a "free(): invalid pointer" message. NOTE: It is likely that this is also exploitable during TLS 1.3 handshakes between a client and a malicious server. With TLS 1.3, it is not possible to exploit this as a man-in-the-middle.
- Record
CVE-2022-38153- CVSS 3.1
- 5.9 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-770
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
CVE List No score
An issue was discovered in wolfSSL before 5.5.0 (when --enable-session-ticket is used); however, only version 5.3.0 is exploitable. Man-in-the-middle attackers or a malicious server can crash TLS 1.2 clients during a handshake. If an attacker injects a large ticket (more than 256 bytes) into a NewSessionTicket message in a TLS 1.2 handshake, and the client has a non-empty session cache, the session cache frees a pointer that points to unallocated memory, causing the client to crash with a "free(): invalid pointer" message. NOTE: It is likely that this is also exploitable during TLS 1.3 handshakes between a client and a malicious server. With TLS 1.3, it is not possible to exploit this as a man-in-the-middle.
- Record
CVE-2022-38153- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2022-40750 No score
An issue was discovered in wolfSSL before 5.5.0 (when --enable-session-ticket is used); however, only version 5.3.0 is exploitable. Man-in-the-middle attackers or a malicious server can crash TLS 1.2 clients during a handshake. If an attacker injects a large ticket (more than 256 bytes) into a NewSessionTicket message in a TLS 1.2 handshake, and the client has a non-empty session cache, the session cache frees a pointer that points to unallocated memory, causing the client to crash with a "free(): invalid pointer" message. NOTE: It is likely that this is also exploitable during TLS 1.3 handshakes between a client and a malicious server. With TLS 1.3, it is not possible to exploit this as a man-in-the-middle.
- Record
EUVD-2022-40750- Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-9cp4-7v5m-jx89
5.9
An issue was discovered in wolfSSL before 5.5.0 (when --enable-session-ticket is used); however,...
An issue was discovered in wolfSSL before 5.5.0 (when --enable-session-ticket is used); however, only version 5.3.0 is exploitable. Man-in-the-middle attackers or a malicious server can crash TLS 1.2 clients during a handshake. If an attacker injects a large ticket (more than 256 bytes) into a NewSessionTicket message in a TLS 1.2 handshake, and the client has a non-empty session cache, the session cache frees a pointer that points to unallocated memory, causing the client to crash with a "free(): invalid pointer" message. NOTE: It is likely that this is also exploitable during TLS 1.3 handshakes between a client and a malicious server. With TLS 1.3, it is not possible to exploit this as a man-in-the-middle.
- Record
GHSA-9cp4-7v5m-jx89- CVSS 3.1
- 5.9 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-770
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2022-38153
5.9
An issue was discovered in wolfSSL before 5.5.0 (when --enable-session-ticket is used); however, only version 5.3.0 is exploitable. Man-in-the-middle attackers or a malicious server can crash TLS 1.2 clients during a handshake. If an attacker injects a large ticket (more than 256 bytes) into a NewSessionTicket message in a TLS 1.2 handshake, and the client has a non-empty session cache, the session cache frees a pointer that points to unallocated memory, causing the client to crash with a "free(): invalid pointer" message. NOTE: It is likely that this is also exploitable during TLS 1.3 handshakes between a client and a malicious server. With TLS 1.3, it is not possible to exploit this as a man-in-the-middle.
- Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2022-38153- CVSS 3.1
- 5.9 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-03
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2022-38153
5.9
An issue was discovered in wolfSSL before 5.5.0 (when --enable-session-ticket is used); however, only version 5.3.0 is exploitable. Man-in-the-middle attackers or a malicious server can crash TLS 1.2 clients during a handshake. If an attacker injects a large ticket (more than 256 bytes) into a NewSessionTicket message in a TLS 1.2 handshake, and the client has a non-empty session cache, the session cache frees a pointer that points to unallocated memory, causing the client to crash with a "free(): invalid pointer" message. NOTE: It is likely that this is also exploitable during TLS 1.3 handshakes between a client and a malicious server. With TLS 1.3, it is not possible to exploit this as a man-in-the-middle.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2022-38153- CVSS 3.1
- 5.9 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV No score
An issue was discovered in wolfSSL before 5.5.0 (when --enable-session-ticket is used); however, only version 5.3.0 is exploitable. Man-in-the-middle attackers or a malicious server can crash TLS 1.2 clients during a handshake. If an attacker injects a large ticket (more than 256 bytes) into a NewSessionTicket message in a TLS 1.2 handshake, and the client has a non-empty session cache, the session cache frees a pointer that points to unallocated memory, causing the client to crash with a "free(): invalid pointer" message. NOTE: It is likely that this is also exploitable during TLS 1.3 handshakes between a client and a malicious server. With TLS 1.3, it is not possible to exploit this as a man-in-the-middle.
- Record
CVE-2022-38153- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
wolfsslDebian:12 |
before 5.5.3-1 | 5.5.3-1 |
wolfsslDebian:13 |
before 5.5.3-1 | 5.5.3-1 |
wolfsslUbuntu:16.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 3.4.8+dfsg-1 |
None known |
wolfsslUbuntu:18.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 3.10.2+dfsg-23.12.0+dfsg-13.12.2+dfsg-13.13.0+dfsg-1 |
None known |
wolfsslUbuntu:20.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 4.1.0+dfsg-24.2.0+dfsg-14.2.0+dfsg-24.2.0+dfsg-34.3.0+dfsg-2 |
None known |
wolfsslUbuntu:22.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 4.6.0-35.0.0-15.1.1-15.2.0-15.2.0-2 |
None known |
wolfsslUbuntu:24.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 5.5.4-25.5.4-2.15.6.4-25.6.6-1.25.6.6-1.35.6.6-1.3build1 |
None known |
wolfsslUbuntu:25.10 |
All versions, plus listed versions 5.7.2-0.1 |
None known |
wolfsslUbuntu:26.10 |
All versions, plus listed versions 5.9.1-0.15.9.2-1 |
None known |
wolfsslUbuntu:26.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 5.7.2-0.15.8.2-1.25.8.4-15.9.1-0.1 |
None known |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2022-38153 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 5.9) in Wolfssl, published August 31, 2022. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 2.48%, the 84th percentile. Fixed in wolfssl 5.5.3-1.
References
github.com/wolfSSL/wolfssl/releases
wolfssl.com/docs/security-vulnerabilities
github.com/wolfSSL/wolfssl/pull/5476
github.com/trailofbits/tlspuffin
seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2023/Jan/8
packetstormsecurity.com/files/170605/wolfSSL-5.3.0-Denial-Of-Service.html
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blog.trailofbits.com/2023/01/12/wolfssl-vulnerabilities-tlspuffin-fuzzing-ssh
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-38153
github.com/advisories/GHSA-9cp4-7v5m-jx89
github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2022/38xxx/CVE-2022-38153.json
security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2022-38153
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2022-38153
cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-38153