Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
A malicious TLS server could make certain libcurl-based clients spin forever while collecting certificate-chain details. The business impact is availability: affected processes may hang or burn CPU, disrupting services that fetch data from untrusted or attacker-influenced servers.
Executive priority
Treat as a high-priority patching item for internet-facing or integration-heavy workloads that make outbound TLS connections. It is less urgent for systems not using NSS-backed libcurl certificate-info retrieval.
Technical view
CVE-2022-27781 is a CWE-400 resource-consumption flaw in libcurl when built with NSS and used with `CURLOPT_CERTINFO`. An unauthenticated network peer can trigger a never-ending busy-loop during certificate information retrieval. The stated fix is curl/libcurl 7.83.1.
Likely exposure
Exposure is narrower than all curl installations. Risk centers on applications using libcurl built with the NSS TLS backend, enabling `CURLOPT_CERTINFO`, and connecting to servers outside trusted control.
Exploitation context
The bundle says KEV is false and provides no evidence of active exploitation. The plausible attack context is a client contacting a malicious or compromised TLS server while requesting certificate-chain information.
Researcher notes
The affected condition depends on both build-time backend and runtime option use. The source bundle names the fix version but does not provide comprehensive affected-version ranges, active exploitation evidence, or universal mitigations beyond vendor updates.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade curl/libcurl to 7.83.1 or a vendor-fixed package.
- Apply Debian, Gentoo, NetApp, or other vendor guidance where relevant.
- Prioritize systems that connect to untrusted TLS endpoints.
- Review whether applications require `CURLOPT_CERTINFO` in production.
- If no vendor fix is available, seek vendor-specific mitigation guidance.
Validation and detection
- Inventory curl and libcurl versions across servers, containers, and appliances.
- Identify libcurl builds using the NSS TLS backend.
- Review application code or configuration for `CURLOPT_CERTINFO` usage.
- Confirm distribution packages include the CVE-2022-27781 fix.
- Retest affected workflows after updating vendor packages.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-400: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2022-27781 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 7.5 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
SSVC decision data
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H3.93.6CISA-ADPVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7.5HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://hackerone.com/reports/1555441CVE reference, hackerone
- https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20220609-0009/CVE reference, hackerone
- DSA-5197CVE reference, hackerone · vendor-advisory
- [debian-lts-announce] 20220828 [SECURITY] [DLA 3085-1] curl security updateCVE reference, hackerone · mailing-list
- GLSA-202212-01CVE reference, hackerone · vendor-advisory
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.