How severe is CVE-2023-0216?

CVE-2023-0216 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 7.5, rated high severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.

Is CVE-2023-0216 being actively exploited?

It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 2% (77th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What products are affected by CVE-2023-0216?

CVE-2023-0216 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-2023-0216?

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

When was CVE-2023-0216 published?

CVE-2023-0216 was published on 2023-02-08 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

CVE-2023-0216

CVE-2023-0216 is a high-severity vulnerability in Openssl with a CVSS 3.x base score of 7.5. It is not currently listed as actively exploited by CISA, and its EPSS exploit-prediction score is low. The underlying weakness is classified as CWE-476.

Key facts

Severity: High (CVSS 3.x base score 7.5)
EPSS exploit prediction: 2% (77th percentile)
Actively exploited: Not listed in CISA KEV
Weakness: CWE-476
Affected product: Openssl
Published: 2023-02-08
Last modified: 2026-06-17

Description

An invalid pointer dereference on read can be triggered when an application tries to load malformed PKCS7 data with the d2i_PKCS7(), d2i_PKCS7_bio() or d2i_PKCS7_fp() functions. The result of the dereference is an application crash which could lead to a denial of service attack. The TLS implementation in OpenSSL does not call this function however third party applications might call these functions on untrusted data.

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2023-0216?: An invalid pointer dereference on read can be triggered when an application tries to load malformed PKCS7 data with the d2i_PKCS7(), d2i_PKCS7_bio() or d2i_PKCS7_fp() functions. The result of the dereference is an application crash which could lead to a denial of service attack. The TLS implementation in OpenSSL does not call this function however third party applications might call these functions on untrusted data.
How severe is CVE-2023-0216?: CVE-2023-0216 has a CVSS 3.x base score of 7.5, rated high severity. It is exploitable over network with low attack complexity, requires no privileges and no user interaction. Impact on confidentiality is none, integrity none, and availability high.
Is CVE-2023-0216 being actively exploited?: It is not currently listed in CISA's KEV catalog. Its EPSS exploit-prediction score is 2% (77th percentile), an estimate of the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What products are affected by CVE-2023-0216?: CVE-2023-0216 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-2023-0216?: Review the linked vendor and NVD advisories for patched versions and mitigations, then upgrade or apply the recommended workaround. Given its high severity, prioritise patching exposed systems.
When was CVE-2023-0216 published?: CVE-2023-0216 was published on 2023-02-08 and last updated on 2026-06-17.

References

Affected products (2)

cpe:2.3:a:openssl:openssl:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:stormshield:stormshield_management_center:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

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All CVEs affecting Openssl →

Other CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference) vulnerabilities

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CVE-2020-14500 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): Secomea GateManager all versions prior to 9.2c, An attacker can send a negative value and overwrite arbitrary data.
CVE-2010-2495 — Critical (CVSS 10.0): The pppol2tp_xmit function in drivers/net/pppol2tp.c in the L2TP implementation in the Linux kernel before 2.6.34 does…
CVE-2026-46195 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: smb: client: validate dacloffset before building…
CVE-2026-31657 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: batman-adv: hold claim backbone gateways by…
CVE-2026-31436 — Critical (CVSS 9.8): In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dmaengine: idxd: fix possible wrong descriptor…

Browse all CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference) vulnerabilities →

Threat intelligence

Threat-intel indicators referencing this CVE:

103.90.227.203 (ipv4-addr)
161.97.123.14 (ipv4-addr)
14.161.12.247 (ipv4-addr)
109.236.86.20 (ipv4-addr)