CVE-2022-23303 [Critical] | Security Vulnerability in Hostapd

The implementations of SAE in hostapd before 2.10 and wpa_supplicant before 2.10 are vulnerable to side channel attacks as a result of cache access patterns. NOTE: this issue exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2019-9494.

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2026-05-22	0.30%	0.40%	+0.10%
2	2025-11-21	1.80%	0.30%	-1.50%
3	2025-11-18	—	1.80%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2026-05-22

0.30%

0.40%

+0.10%

2025-11-21

1.80%

0.30%

-1.50%

2025-11-18

—

1.80%

—

Base score	Version	Severity	Vector	Exploitability	Impact	Score source
9.8	3.1	CRITICAL	`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H` Click to expand Attack vector (AV:N) Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine. Attack complexity (AC:L) Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup. Privileges required (PR:N) No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough. User interaction (UI:N) Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping. Scope (S:U) Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems. Confidentiality (C:H) Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way. Integrity (I:H) They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt. Availability (A:H) Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.	3.9	5.9	[email protected]
6.8	2.0	MEDIUM	`AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P` Click to expand Access vector (AV:N) Can be exploited remotely over network reachability. Access complexity (AC:M) Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones. Authentication (AU:N) No authentication is required. Confidentiality impact (C:P) Partial confidentiality impact. Integrity impact (I:P) Partial integrity impact. Availability impact (A:P) Partial availability impact.	8.6	6.4	[email protected]

Base score

Version

Severity

Vector

Exploitability

Impact

Score source

9.8

3.1

CRITICAL

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand

Attack vector (AV:N): Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L): Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N): No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N): Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U): Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H): Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H): They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H): Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.

3.9

5.9

[email protected]

6.8

2.0

MEDIUM

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P Click to expand

Access vector (AV:N): Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M): Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N): No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P): Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P): Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P): Partial availability impact.

8.6

6.4

[email protected]

OS Trackers for CVE-2022-23303

vendor	priority	summary	link
`alpine`	—	CVE-2022-23303: 2 source package rows (hostapd, wpa_supplicant); 82 state rows across 8 repos (3.12-main, 3.17-main, 3.18-main, 3.19-main, 3.20-main, 3.21-main, 3.22-main, edge-main); fixed 9, open 73.	https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2022-23303
`debian`	not yet assigned	CVE-2022-23303 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (wpa), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5.	https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2022-23303
`gentoo`	normal	CVE-2022-23303: 1 GLSA(s) (202309-16), 2 atom(s) (net-wireless/hostapd, net-wireless/wpa_supplicant); latest impact normal.	https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2022-23303
`redhat`	medium	—	https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-23303
`suse`	high	CVE-2022-23303 severity important: SUSE including 10 source package names (latest:wpa_supplicant-2.9-4.33.1, wpa_supplicant, …), 77 product×package rows across 76 product lines (Container rancher/elemental-teal-rt/5.3, Container rancher/elemental-teal-rt/5.4, … (76 product lines)): Fixed 75, Will Not Fix 2.	https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2022-23303/
`ubuntu`	low	CVE-2022-23303 low priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (wpa), 12 status rows across 12 suites (bionic, focal, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 7, ignored 3, released 2.	https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2022-23303

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2022-23303

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
w1.fi	hostapd	< 2.10	cpe:2.3:a:w1.fi:hostapd::::::::
w1.fi	wpa_supplicant	< 2.10	cpe:2.3:a:w1.fi:wpa_supplicant::::::::
fedoraproject	fedora	35	cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:35:::::::*

References for CVE-2022-23303

URL	Tags
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/YPDHU5MV464CZBPX7N2SNMUYP6DFIBZL/
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202309-16
https://w1.fi/security/2022-1/	Mitigation Patch Third Party Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/04/msg00019.html

URL

CVE-2022-23303

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2022-23303

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2022-23303

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2022-23303

OS Trackers for CVE-2022-23303

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2022-23303

References for CVE-2022-23303