THREATPORT/VULNERABILITY/CVE-2022-43551
HIGH SEVERITY

CVE-2022-43551

Curl vulnerability

CVSS
7.5
EPSS
16.5%
EPSS pct
97th
Exploited
No known
A vulnerability exists in curl <7.87.0 HSTS check that could be bypassed to trick it to keep using HTTP. Using its HSTS support, curl can be instructed to use HTTPS instead of using an insecure clear-text HTTP step even when HTTP is provided in the URL. However, the HSTS mechanism could be bypassed if the host name in the given URL first uses IDN characters that get replaced to ASCII counterparts as part of the IDN conversion. Like using the character UTF-8 U+3002 (IDEOGRAPHIC FULL STOP) instead of the common ASCII full stop (U+002E) `.`. Then in a subsequent request, it does not detect the HSTS state and makes a clear text transfer. Because it would store the info IDN encoded but look for it IDN decoded.
Affected vendor
Haxx
Affected product
Curl
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Weakness type (CWE)
  • CWE-319 — Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information
Published
2022-12-23

Risk analysis

Based on its CVSS vector, this vulnerability is exploitable over the network, low attack complexity, requiring no privileges, no user interaction. Successful exploitation leads to high impact to confidentiality.

Its EPSS score of 16.5% reflects a moderate probability of exploitation activity in the wild over the next 30 days, placing it above 97% of all scored CVEs.

Check your external exposure to CVE-2022-43551

  • Confirm whether Haxx Curl is running on any internet-facing host or subdomain.
  • Match discovered service fingerprints against the version affected by CVE-2022-43551.
  • Prioritise remediation if the asset is public, business-critical, or near authentication/payment flows.

How ThreatPort helps with CVE-2022-43551

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