CVE-2024-8443 | Libopensc: heap buffer overflow in openpgp driver when generating key

A heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability was found in the libopensc OpenPGP driver. A crafted USB device or smart card with malicious responses to the APDUs during the card enrollment process using the `pkcs15-init` tool may lead to out-of-bound rights, possibly resulting in arbitrary code execution.

Published: 2024-09-10 Last update: 2025-11-03 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2024-8443 is rated Low Risk (24.6/100): CVSS Low severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.15%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

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-2024-8443

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 2025-11-21 0.06% 0.15% +0.09%
2 2025-11-18 0.15% 0.06% -0.09%
3 2025-11-04 0.15%

Full EPSS history (6 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2024-8443

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
2.9 3.1 LOW
CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:P)
Hands-on access—USB, keyboard, opening the case—not something you do purely over the wire.
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:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
0.4 2.5 [email protected]
2.9 3.1 LOW
CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:P)
Hands-on access—USB, keyboard, opening the case—not something you do purely over the wire.
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:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
0.4 2.5 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2024-8443

OS Trackers for CVE-2024-8443

vendor priority summary link
alpine CVE-2024-8443: 1 source package rows (opensc); 3 state rows across 3 repos (3.21-community, 3.22-community, edge-community); fixed 3, open 0. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2024-8443
debian not yet assigned CVE-2024-8443 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (opensc), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2024-8443
redhat low https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2024-8443
suse low https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2024-8443/
ubuntu medium CVE-2024-8443 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (opensc), 9 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, upstream, xenial): released 5, not-affected 4. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2024-8443

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2024-8443

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
opensc_project opensc cpe:2.3:a:opensc_project:opensc:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux 7.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux 8.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux 9.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2024-8443

cvelogic Threat Intelligence