POLY1305 MAC implementation corrupts XMM registers on Windows
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CISA ADP. Fix status from CNA.
Summary
Issue summary: The POLY1305 MAC (message authentication code) implementation contains a bug that might corrupt the internal state of applications on the Windows 64 platform when running on newer X86_64 processors supporting the AVX512-IFMA instructions. Impact summary: If in an application that uses the OpenSSL library an attacker can influence whether the POLY1305 MAC algorithm is used, the application state might be corrupted with various application dependent consequences. The POLY1305 MAC (message authentication code) implementation in OpenSSL does not save the contents of non-volatile XMM registers on Windows 64 platform when calculating the MAC of data larger than 64 bytes. Before returning to the caller all the XMM registers are set to zero rather than restoring their previous content. The vulnerable code is used only on newer x86_64 processors supporting the AVX512-IFMA instructions. The consequences of this kind of internal application state corruption can be various - from no consequences, if the calling application does not depend on the contents of non-volatile XMM registers at all, to the worst consequences, where the attacker could get complete control of the application process. However given the contents of the registers are just zeroized so the attacker cannot put arbitrary values inside, the most likely consequence, if any, would be an incorrect result of some application dependent calculations or a crash leading to a denial of service. The POLY1305 MAC algorithm is most frequently used as part of the CHACHA20-POLY1305 AEAD (authenticated encryption with associated data) algorithm. The most common usage of this AEAD cipher is with TLS protocol versions 1.2 and 1.3 and a malicious client can influence whether this AEAD cipher is used by the server. This implies that server applications using OpenSSL can be potentially impacted. However we are currently not aware of any concrete application that would be affected by this issue therefore we consider this a Low severity security issue. As a workaround the AVX512-IFMA instructions support can be disabled at runtime by setting the environment variable OPENSSL_ia32cap: OPENSSL_ia32cap=:~0x200000 The FIPS provider is not affected by this issue.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Total
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenSSL | OpenSSL | 3.1.0 to before 3.1.3; 3.0.0 to before 3.0.11; 1.1.1 to before 1.1.1w | 3.1.3, 3.0.11, 1.1.1w | Patch available | CNA |
- OpenSSL VendorOpenSSL Affected 3.1.0 to before 3.1.3; 3.0.0 to before 3.0.11; 1.1.1 to before 1.1.1w Fixed in 3.1.3, 3.0.11, 1.1.1w Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:openssl:openssl:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 1.1.1 to before 1.1.1w; 3.0.0 to before 3.0.11; 3.1.0 to before 3.1.3 | Vulnerable | OpenSSL |
- cpe:2.3:a:openssl:openssl:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 1.1.1 to before 1.1.1w; 3.0.0 to before 3.0.11; 3.1.0 to before 3.1.3 Vulnerable ·OpenSSL
Remediation
- Fix · CNA OpenSSL (OpenSSL) Fixed in 3.1.3, 3.0.11, 1.1.1w
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Low. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
Not affected: 6 products
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
- Red Hat JBoss Core Services
- Red Hat JBoss Web Server 5
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2023-4807
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-53wr-cx66-4578
References
Advisory 1
More Openssl vulnerabilities
- TI-2022-01915 The c_rehash script allows command injection CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2021-02645 SM2 Decryption Buffer Overflow CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2009-03392 The TLS protocol, and the SSL protocol 3.0 and possibly earlier, as used in Microsoft… CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2022-01176 The c_rehash script allows command injection CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2014-00154 The (1) TLS and (2) DTLS implementations in OpenSSL 1.0.1 before 1.0.1g do not properly… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2025-14107 Stack buffer overflow in CMS (Auth)EnvelopedData parsing CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
Sources
- CVE-2023-4807 · CVE Program
- CVE-2023-4807 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-53wr-cx66-4578 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2023-4807 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences