CVE-2022-37660
In hostapd 2.10 and earlier, the PKEX code remains active even after a successful PKEX...
In hostapd 2.10 and earlier, the PKEX code remains active even after a successful PKEX association. An attacker that successfully bootstrapped public keys with another entity using PKEX in the past, will be able to subvert a future bootstrapping by passively observing public keys, re-using the encrypting element Qi and subtracting it from the captured message M (X = M - Qi). This will result in the public ephemeral key X; the only element required to subvert the PKEX association.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
In hostapd 2.10 and earlier, the PKEX code remains active even after a successful PKEX association. An attacker that successfully bootstrapped public keys with another entity using PKEX in the past, will be able to subvert a future bootstrapping by passively observing public keys, re-using the encrypting element Qi and subtracting it from the captured message M (X = M - Qi). This will result in the public ephemeral key X; the only element required to subvert the PKEX association.
- Record
CVE-2022-37660- CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-323
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2022-40274
In hostapd 2.10 and earlier, the PKEX code remains active even after a successful PKEX association. An attacker that successfully bootstrapped public keys with another entity using PKEX in the past, will be able to subvert a future bootstrapping by passively observing public keys, re-using the encrypting element Qi and subtracting it from the captured message M (X = M - Qi). This will result in the public ephemeral key X; the only element required to subvert the PKEX association.
- Record
EUVD-2022-40274- CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-hmq6-3hm7-3h78
In hostapd 2.10 and earlier, the PKEX code remains active even after a successful PKEX...
In hostapd 2.10 and earlier, the PKEX code remains active even after a successful PKEX association. An attacker that successfully bootstrapped public keys with another entity using PKEX in the past, will be able to subvert a future bootstrapping by passively observing public keys, re-using the encrypting element Qi and subtracting it from the captured message M (X = M - Qi). This will result in the public ephemeral key X; the only element required to subvert the PKEX association.
- Record
GHSA-hmq6-3hm7-3h78- CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-323
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
In hostapd 2.10 and earlier, the PKEX code remains active even after a successful PKEX association. An attacker that successfully bootstrapped public keys with another entity using PKEX in the past, will be able to subvert a future bootstrapping by passively observing public keys, re-using the encrypting element Qi and subtracting it from the captured message M (X = M - Qi). This will result in the public ephemeral key X; the only element required to subvert the PKEX association.
- Record
CVE-2022-37660- CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-323
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
In hostapd 2.10 and earlier, the PKEX code remains active even after a successful PKEX association. An attacker that successfully bootstrapped public keys with another entity using PKEX in the past, will be able to subvert a future bootstrapping by passively observing public keys, re-using the encrypting element Qi and subtracting it from the captured message M (X = M - Qi). This will result in the public ephemeral key X; the only element required to subvert the PKEX association.
- Record
CVE-2022-37660- CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-04
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2022-37660
In hostapd 2.10 and earlier, the PKEX code remains active even after a successful PKEX association. An attacker that successfully bootstrapped public keys with another entity using PKEX in the past, will be able to subvert a future bootstrapping by passively observing public keys, re-using the encrypting element Qi and subtracting it from the captured message M (X = M - Qi). This will result in the public ephemeral key X; the only element required to subvert the PKEX association.
- Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2022-37660- CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-03
Show 4 moreShow less
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2022-37660
In hostapd 2.10 and earlier, the PKEX code remains active even after a successful PKEX association. An attacker that successfully bootstrapped public keys with another entity using PKEX in the past, will be able to subvert a future bootstrapping by passively observing public keys, re-using the encrypting element Qi and subtracting it from the captured message M (X = M - Qi). This will result in the public ephemeral key X; the only element required to subvert the PKEX association.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2022-37660- CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVCLSA-2026-1781274016 No score
hostapd: Fix of CVE-2022-37660
- CVE-2022-37660: delete PKEX code and identifier on successful PKEX completion to prevent passive recovery of ephemeral key X
- Record
CLSA-2026-1781274016- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVopenSUSE-SU-2026:12398-1 No score
hostapd-2.12-1.1 on GA media
These are all security issues fixed in the hostapd-2.12-1.1 package on the GA media of openSUSE Tumbleweed.
- Record
openSUSE-SU-2026:12398-1- Updated
- 2026-11-04
OSVUSN-7317-1 No score
wpa vulnerabilities
George Chatzisofroniou and Panayiotis Kotzanikolaou discovered that wpa_supplicant and hostapd reused encryption elements in the PKEX protocol. An attacker could possibly use this issue to impersonate a wireless access point, and obtain sensitive information. (CVE-2022-37660)
Daniel De Almeida Braga, Mohamed Sabt, and Pierre-Alain Fouque discovered that wpa_supplicant and hostapd were vulnerable to side channel attacks due to the cache access patterns. An attacker could possibly use this issue to obtain sensitive information. This issue only affected Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. (CVE-2022-23303, CVE-2022-23304)
- Record
USN-7317-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
hostapdTuxCare:AlmaLinux:9.2 |
before 2.10-1.el9.tuxcare.els1 | 2.10-1.el9.tuxcare.els1 |
hostapd-logwatchTuxCare:AlmaLinux:9.2 |
before 2.10-1.el9.tuxcare.els1 | 2.10-1.el9.tuxcare.els1 |
wpaDebian:12 |
before 2:2.10-12+deb12u3, plus listed versions 2:2.10-122:2.10-12+deb12u12:2.10-12+deb12u2 |
2:2.10-12+deb12u3 |
wpaDebian:13 |
before 2:2.10-24 | 2:2.10-24 |
wpaDebian:14 |
before 2:2.10-24 | 2:2.10-24 |
wpaDebian:11 From an advisory covering 3 CVEs |
before 2:2.9.0-21+deb11u3, plus listed versions 2:2.9.0-212:2.9.0-21+deb11u12:2.9.0-21+deb11u2 |
2:2.9.0-21+deb11u3 |
wpaUbuntu:20.04:LTS |
before 2:2.9-1ubuntu4.6, plus listed versions 2:2.9-1ubuntu22:2.9-1ubuntu32:2.9-1ubuntu42:2.9-1ubuntu4.12:2.9-1ubuntu4.22:2.9-1ubuntu4.32:2.9-1ubuntu4.4 |
2:2.9-1ubuntu4.6 |
wpaUbuntu:22.04:LTS |
before 2:2.10-6ubuntu2.2, plus listed versions 2:2.9.0-21build12:2.9.0-232:2.10-12:2.10-22:2.10-62:2.10-6ubuntu12:2.10-6ubuntu22:2.10-6ubuntu2.1 |
2:2.10-6ubuntu2.2 |
wpaUbuntu:24.04:LTS |
before 2:2.10-21ubuntu0.2, plus listed versions 2:2.10-152:2.10-182:2.10-202:2.10-212:2.10-21build22:2.10-21build32:2.10-21build42:2.10-21ubuntu0.1 |
2:2.10-21ubuntu0.2 |
wpaUbuntu:20.04:LTS From an advisory covering 3 CVEs |
before 2:2.9-1ubuntu4.6, plus listed versions 2:2.9-1ubuntu22:2.9-1ubuntu32:2.9-1ubuntu42:2.9-1ubuntu4.12:2.9-1ubuntu4.22:2.9-1ubuntu4.32:2.9-1ubuntu4.4 |
2:2.9-1ubuntu4.6 |
wpaUbuntu:22.04:LTS From an advisory covering 3 CVEs |
before 2:2.10-6ubuntu2.2, plus listed versions 2:2.9.0-21build12:2.9.0-232:2.10-12:2.10-22:2.10-62:2.10-6ubuntu12:2.10-6ubuntu22:2.10-6ubuntu2.1 |
2:2.10-6ubuntu2.2 |
wpaUbuntu:24.04:LTS From an advisory covering 3 CVEs |
before 2:2.10-21ubuntu0.2, plus listed versions 2:2.10-152:2.10-182:2.10-202:2.10-212:2.10-21build22:2.10-21build32:2.10-21build42:2.10-21ubuntu0.1 |
2:2.10-21ubuntu0.2 |
hostapdopenSUSE:Tumbleweed From an advisory covering 3 CVEs |
before 2.12-1.1 | 2.12-1.1 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| affected | ||
| affected, aliases, facts, references | OSV | |
| first indexed | CVE List, EUVD, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2022-37660 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 6.5) in W1.fi Hostapd, published February 11, 2025. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.38%, the 31st percentile. Fixed in hostapd 2.10-1.el9.tuxcare.els1.
References
w1.fi/cgit/hostap/commit?id=15af83cf1846870873a011ed4d714732f01cd2e4
link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10207-025-00988-3
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/04/msg00019.html
cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-585531.html
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-37660
github.com/advisories/GHSA-hmq6-3hm7-3h78
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errata.tuxcare.com/els_os/almalinux9.2esu/CLSA-2026-1781274016.html
security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2022-37660
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2022-37660
cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-37660
suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2019-10064