---
id: CVE-2022-4450
title: |-
  The function PEM_read_bio_ex() reads a PEM file from a BIO and parses and
  decodes the "name" (e.g
summary: >-
  The function PEM_read_bio_ex() reads a PEM file from a BIO and parses and

  decodes the "name" (e.g. "CERTIFICATE"), any header data and the payload data.

  If the function succeeds then the "name_out", "header" and "data" arguments
  are

  popu…
severity: high
cvss: 7.5
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'
cwe:
  - CWE-415
  - CWE-415
vendor: openssl
product: openssl
affected:
  - 'openssl >= 1.1.1, < 1.1.1t'
  - 'openssl >= 3.0.0, < 3.0.8'
  - 'stormshield_network_security >= 4.0.0, < 4.3.16'
  - 'stormshield_network_security >= 4.4.0, < 4.6.3'
patched:
  - openssl 3.0.8
  - stormshield_network_security 4.6.3
published: '2023-02-08'
updated: '2026-10-14'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-14T15:17:00.197'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-4450'
references:
  - url: >-
      https://git.openssl.org/gitweb/?p=openssl.git;a=commitdiff;h=63bcf189be73a9cc1264059bed6f57974be74a83
    label: openssl-security@openssl.org
  - url: >-
      https://git.openssl.org/gitweb/?p=openssl.git;a=commitdiff;h=bbcf509bd046b34cca19c766bbddc31683d0858b
    label: openssl-security@openssl.org
  - url: 'https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202402-08'
    label: openssl-security@openssl.org
  - url: 'https://www.openssl.org/news/secadv/20230207.txt'
    label: openssl-security@openssl.org
  - url: >-
      https://git.openssl.org/gitweb/?p=openssl.git;a=commitdiff;h=63bcf189be73a9cc1264059bed6f57974be74a83
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
  - url: >-
      https://git.openssl.org/gitweb/?p=openssl.git;a=commitdiff;h=bbcf509bd046b34cca19c766bbddc31683d0858b
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
  - url: 'https://psirt.global.sonicwall.com/vuln-detail/SNWLID-2023-0003'
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
  - url: 'https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202402-08'
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
  - url: 'https://www.openssl.org/news/secadv/20230207.txt'
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
  - url: 'https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-203374.html'
    label: 0b142b55-0307-4c5a-b3c9-f314f3fb7c5e
  - url: 'https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-337522.html'
    label: 0b142b55-0307-4c5a-b3c9-f314f3fb7c5e
  - url: 'https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-398330.html'
    label: 0b142b55-0307-4c5a-b3c9-f314f3fb7c5e
  - url: 'https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-556635.html'
    label: 0b142b55-0307-4c5a-b3c9-f314f3fb7c5e
  - url: 'https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-561322.html'
    label: 0b142b55-0307-4c5a-b3c9-f314f3fb7c5e
  - url: 'https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-625862.html'
    label: 0b142b55-0307-4c5a-b3c9-f314f3fb7c5e
  - url: 'https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-699386.html'
    label: 0b142b55-0307-4c5a-b3c9-f314f3fb7c5e
  - url: 'https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-769027.html'
    label: 0b142b55-0307-4c5a-b3c9-f314f3fb7c5e
  - url: 'https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-794697.html'
    label: 0b142b55-0307-4c5a-b3c9-f314f3fb7c5e
  - url: 'https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-879734.html'
    label: 0b142b55-0307-4c5a-b3c9-f314f3fb7c5e
  - url: 'https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-943925.html'
    label: 0b142b55-0307-4c5a-b3c9-f314f3fb7c5e
tags:
  - nvd
epss: 0.20287
epssPercentile: 0.97427
ingestedAt: '2026-10-14T15:36:13.929Z'
---

## Overview

The function PEM_read_bio_ex() reads a PEM file from a BIO and parses and
decodes the "name" (e.g. "CERTIFICATE"), any header data and the payload data.
If the function succeeds then the "name_out", "header" and "data" arguments are
populated with pointers to buffers containing the relevant decoded data. The
caller is responsible for freeing those buffers. It is possible to construct a
PEM file that results in 0 bytes of payload data. In this case PEM_read_bio_ex()
will return a failure code but will populate the header argument with a pointer
to a buffer that has already been freed. If the caller also frees this buffer
then a double free will occur. This will most likely lead to a crash. This
could be exploited by an attacker who has the ability to supply malicious PEM
files for parsing to achieve a denial of service attack.

The functions PEM_read_bio() and PEM_read() are simple wrappers around
PEM_read_bio_ex() and therefore these functions are also directly affected.

These functions are also called indirectly by a number of other OpenSSL
functions including PEM_X509_INFO_read_bio_ex() and
SSL_CTX_use_serverinfo_file() which are also vulnerable. Some OpenSSL internal
uses of these functions are not vulnerable because the caller does not free the
header argument if PEM_read_bio_ex() returns a failure code. These locations
include the PEM_read_bio_TYPE() functions as well as the decoders introduced in
OpenSSL 3.0.

The OpenSSL asn1parse command line application is also impacted by this issue.

## Affected

- `openssl >= 1.1.1, < 1.1.1t`
- `openssl >= 3.0.0, < 3.0.8`
- `stormshield_network_security >= 4.0.0, < 4.3.16`
- `stormshield_network_security >= 4.4.0, < 4.6.3`

## Remediation

Upgrade past the affected range:

- `openssl 3.0.8`
- `stormshield_network_security 4.6.3`