CVE-2022-42961Public exploitNetwork attack vector

ECDSA key disclosure via Rowhammer fault injection

Published Oct 15, 2022 · Updated May 14, 2025

Fault injection in wolfSSL before 5.5.0 allows remote attackers to recover private ECDSA keys from faulty signatures. Rowhammer-induced bit flips in RAM during ECC signing produce malformed ECDSA signatures that can be analyzed to derive the signing key. Exploitation requires repeated private-key signing operations and hardware susceptible to a sophisticated Rowhammer attack, exposing the affected private key.

CVSS severity5.3
Medium
EPSS probability0.56%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Fault injection in wolfSSL before 5.5.0 allows remote attackers to recover private ECDSA keys from faulty signatures. Rowhammer-induced bit flips in RAM during ECC signing produce malformed ECDSA signatures that can be analyzed to derive the signing key. Exploitation requires repeated private-key signing operations and hardware susceptible to a sophisticated Rowhammer attack, exposing the affected private key.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-42961
Published
Oct 15, 2022
Updated
May 14, 2025
Vendor
Unknown vendor
Product
Unknown product
Classifications
CWE-285, T1552.004
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Oct 15, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. May 14, 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?

Affected buildAffected product and version details are unavailable.

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

5.3NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
5.3CISA-ADPCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N

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 exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-285Improper Authorization
T1552.004Unsecured Credentials: Private Keys

Public exploit references

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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