CVE-2022-23491Network attack vector

TLS host impersonation via retained TrustCor roots

Published Dec 7, 2022 · Updated Apr 23, 2025

Improper certificate trust in Certifi before 2022.12.07 allows man-in-the-middle attackers to impersonate TLS hosts. The bundled certifi/cacert.pem file treats three TrustCor root certificates as trust anchors, so chains rooted in them pass TLS identity validation. Exploitation requires traffic to reach an endpoint presenting a certificate that chains to a retained root; the bounded impact is TLS peer impersonation.

CVSS severityUnavailable
Unscored
EPSS probability0.53%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Improper certificate trust in Certifi before 2022.12.07 allows man-in-the-middle attackers to impersonate TLS hosts. The bundled certifi/cacert.pem file treats three TrustCor root certificates as trust anchors, so chains rooted in them pass TLS identity validation. Exploitation requires traffic to reach an endpoint presenting a certificate that chains to a retained root; the bounded impact is TLS peer impersonation.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-23491
Published
Dec 7, 2022
Updated
Apr 23, 2025
Vendor
Certifi
Product
certifi
Classifications
CWE-345, T1557
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Dec 7, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Apr 23, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=< 2022.12.07

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Certifi · certifiversion=< 2022.12.07

Published CVSS scores

No CVSS assessment is available in this record.

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-345Insufficient Verification of Data Authenticity
T1557Adversary-in-the-Middle

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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