How severe is CVE-2003-0545?

CVE-2003-0545 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 9.8, rated critical severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is high, integrity high, and availability high.

Is CVE-2003-0545 being actively exploited?

It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 85% (100th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What products are affected by CVE-2003-0545?

CVE-2003-0545 primarily affects Openssl. In total, 2 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.

How do I fix CVE-2003-0545?

Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround. Given its critical severity, prioritise patching exposed systems.

When was CVE-2003-0545 published?

CVE-2003-0545 was published on 2003-11-17 and last updated on 2026-06-16.

CVE-2003-0545

CVE-2003-0545 is a critical-severity vulnerability in Openssl with a CVSS 3.x base score of 9.8. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score of 85% places it in the 100th percentile, indicating an elevated likelihood of exploitation. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-415.

Key facts

Severity: Critical (CVSS 3.x base score 9.8)
CVSS v2: 10.0
EPSS exploit prediction: 85% (100th percentile)
Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
Weakness: CWE-415
Affected product: Openssl
Published: 2003-11-17
Last modified: 2026-06-16

Description

Double free vulnerability in OpenSSL 0.9.7 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) and possibly execute arbitrary code via an SSL client certificate with a certain invalid ASN.1 encoding.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2003-0545?: Double free vulnerability in OpenSSL 0.9.7 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) and possibly execute arbitrary code via an SSL client certificate with a certain invalid ASN.1 encoding.
How severe is CVE-2003-0545?: CVE-2003-0545 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 9.8, rated critical severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is high, integrity high, and availability high.
Is CVE-2003-0545 being actively exploited?: It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 85% (100th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2003-0545?: CVE-2003-0545 primarily affects Openssl. In total, 2 product configurations (CPEs) are listed as vulnerable; see the affected-products list for the exact versions.
How do I fix CVE-2003-0545?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround. Given its critical severity, prioritise patching exposed systems.
When was CVE-2003-0545 published?: CVE-2003-0545 was published on 2003-11-17 and last updated on 2026-06-16.

References

Affected products (2)

cpe:2.3:a:openssl:openssl:0.9.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:openssl:openssl:0.9.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

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Other CWE-415 (Double Free) vulnerabilities

CVE-2018-0101 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): A vulnerability in the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) VPN functionality of the Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA)…
CVE-2026-8925 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): The curl logic that works with SASL authentication could end up cleaning up the GSASL context *twice* without clearing…
CVE-2020-37239 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): libbabl 0.1.62 contains a broken double free detection vulnerability that allows attackers to bypass memory safety…
CVE-2026-43011 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: net/x25: Fix potential double free of skb When…
CVE-2026-31609 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: smb: client: avoid double-free in…
CVE-2026-31608 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: smb: server: avoid double-free in…

Browse all CWE-415 (Double Free) vulnerabilities →