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High severity7.5NVD Advisory· Published Mar 15, 2022· Updated Apr 14, 2026

CVE-2022-0778

CVE-2022-0778

Description

The BN_mod_sqrt() function, which computes a modular square root, contains a bug that can cause it to loop forever for non-prime moduli. Internally this function is used when parsing certificates that contain elliptic curve public keys in compressed form or explicit elliptic curve parameters with a base point encoded in compressed form. It is possible to trigger the infinite loop by crafting a certificate that has invalid explicit curve parameters. Since certificate parsing happens prior to verification of the certificate signature, any process that parses an externally supplied certificate may thus be subject to a denial of service attack. The infinite loop can also be reached when parsing crafted private keys as they can contain explicit elliptic curve parameters. Thus vulnerable situations include: - TLS clients consuming server certificates - TLS servers consuming client certificates - Hosting providers taking certificates or private keys from customers - Certificate authorities parsing certification requests from subscribers - Anything else which parses ASN.1 elliptic curve parameters Also any other applications that use the BN_mod_sqrt() where the attacker can control the parameter values are vulnerable to this DoS issue. In the OpenSSL 1.0.2 version the public key is not parsed during initial parsing of the certificate which makes it slightly harder to trigger the infinite loop. However any operation which requires the public key from the certificate will trigger the infinite loop. In particular the attacker can use a self-signed certificate to trigger the loop during verification of the certificate signature. This issue affects OpenSSL versions 1.0.2, 1.1.1 and 3.0. It was addressed in the releases of 1.1.1n and 3.0.2 on the 15th March 2022. Fixed in OpenSSL 3.0.2 (Affected 3.0.0,3.0.1). Fixed in OpenSSL 1.1.1n (Affected 1.1.1-1.1.1m). Fixed in OpenSSL 1.0.2zd (Affected 1.0.2-1.0.2zc).

Affected packages

Versions sourced from the GitHub Security Advisory.

PackageAffected versionsPatched versions
openssl-srccrates.io
>= 300.0.0, < 300.0.5300.0.5
openssl-srccrates.io
< 111.18.0111.18.0

Affected products

17

Patches

14
78564373fee5
https://github.com/mariadb/servervia osv
e2b50213cf12
https://github.com/mariadb/servervia osv
41a163ac5ccf
https://github.com/mariadb/servervia osv
c04a203a10e2
https://github.com/mariadb/servervia osv
ad3ac55641f1
https://github.com/mariadb/servervia osv
4ffffd98a5ac
https://github.com/mariadb/servervia osv
cb1316b8d213
https://github.com/mariadb/servervia osv
cdb72ea5d913
https://github.com/nodejs/nodevia osv
9e0bba5648e9
https://github.com/nodejs/nodevia osv
442e84a358d7
https://github.com/nodejs/nodevia osv
db3d88267f61
https://github.com/nodejs/nodevia osv
e818b74be217
https://github.com/openssl/opensslvia osv
e04bd3433fd8
https://github.com/openssl/opensslvia osv
1bf649b5998a
https://github.com/openssl/opensslvia osv

Vulnerability mechanics

Generated by null/stub on May 9, 2026. Inputs: CWE entries + fix-commit diffs from this CVE's patches. Citations validated against bundle.

References

43

News mentions

1