CVE-2023-0286 | X.400 address type confusion in X.509 GeneralName

There is a type confusion vulnerability relating to X.400 address processing inside an X.509 GeneralName. X.400 addresses were parsed as an ASN1_STRING but the public structure definition for GENERAL_NAME incorrectly specified the type of the x400Address field as ASN1_TYPE. This field is subsequently interpreted by the OpenSSL function GENERAL_NAME_cmp as an ASN1_TYPE rather than an ASN1_STRING. When CRL checking is enabled (i.e. the application sets the X509_V_FLAG_CRL_CHECK flag), this vulnerability may allow an attacker to pass arbitrary pointers to a memcmp call, enabling them to read memory contents or enact a denial of service. In most cases, the attack requires the attacker to provide both the certificate chain and CRL, neither of which need to have a valid signature. If the attacker only controls one of these inputs, the other input must already contain an X.400 address as a CRL distribution point, which is uncommon. As such, this vulnerability is most likely to only affect applications which have implemented their own functionality for retrieving CRLs over a network.

Published: 2023-02-08 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2023-0286 is rated Moderate Risk (59.3/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 61.98%, 99th percentile). EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. High exploitation likelihood—assess exposure and prioritize remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-0286

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 86.86% 61.98% -24.88%
2 2026-06-14 88.33% 86.86% -1.48%
3 2026-05-27 — 88.33% —

Full EPSS history (88 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-0286

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.4 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
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:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 2.2 5.2 [email protected]
7.4 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
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:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 2.2 5.2 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-0286

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2023-0286

GHSA-x4qr-2fvf-3mr5 · Severity: high · Ecosystem: pip — Vulnerable OpenSSL included in cryptography wheels

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-0286

vendor priority summary link
alpine — CVE-2023-0286: 2 source package rows (openssl, openssl1.1-compat); 93 state rows across 10 repos (3.17-community, 3.17-main, 3.18-community, 3.18-main, 3.19-main, 3.20-main, 3.21-main, 3.22-main, edge-community, edge-main); fixed 10, open 83. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2023-0286
debian not yet assigned CVE-2023-0286 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (openssl), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-0286
gentoo normal CVE-2023-0286: 1 GLSA(s) (202402-08), 1 atom(s) (dev-libs/openssl); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2023-0286
redhat high — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-0286
suse high CVE-2023-0286 severity important: SUSE including 683 source package names (0.23.0.3.2.368:libopenssl1_1-1.1.1d-150200.11.57.1, 0.23.0.3.2.368:libopenssl1_1-hmac-1.1.1d-150200.11.57.1, …), 1439 product×package rows across 277 product lines (Container bci/bci-init, Container bci/dotnet-aspnet, … (277 product lines)): Fixed 1237, Known Affected 129, Known Not Affected 73. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-0286/
ubuntu high CVE-2023-0286 high priority: Ubuntu including 4 source packages (edk2, nodejs, openssl, openssl1.0), 46 status rows across 13 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 16, released 16, DNE 5, ignored 3, needed 3, needs-triage 3. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-0286

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-0286

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
openssl openssl >= 1.0.2, < 1.0.2zg cpe:2.3:a:openssl:openssl:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
openssl openssl >= 1.1.1, < 1.1.1t cpe:2.3:a:openssl:openssl:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
openssl openssl >= 3.0.0, < 3.0.8 cpe:2.3:a:openssl:openssl:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
stormshield stormshield_management_center < 3.3.3 cpe:2.3:a:stormshield:stormshield_management_center:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
stormshield stormshield_network_security >= 2.7.0, < 2.7.11 cpe:2.3:a:stormshield:stormshield_network_security:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
stormshield stormshield_network_security >= 2.8.0, < 3.7.34 cpe:2.3:a:stormshield:stormshield_network_security:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
stormshield stormshield_network_security >= 3.8.0, < 3.11.22 cpe:2.3:a:stormshield:stormshield_network_security:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
stormshield stormshield_network_security >= 4.0.0, < 4.3.16 cpe:2.3:a:stormshield:stormshield_network_security:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
stormshield stormshield_network_security >= 4.4.0, < 4.6.3 cpe:2.3:a:stormshield:stormshield_network_security:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-0286

cvelogic Threat Intelligence