Contextualize Prioritize and ACT ON RISK
Login
Get Access
Demo

blog

How to fix the OpenSSL Critical vulnerability – OpenSSL 3.0.7  -Vulnerability Weekly special focus on application security

Critical Vulnerability affecting open source library OpenSSL - Application Security

Critical Vulnerability affecting open source library OpenSSL - Application Security
Critical Vulnerability affecting open source library OpenSSL – Application Security

On October 25, a critical vulnerability was announced for OpenSSL, with the fix and advisory on November 1st. This upcoming update will affect the application security and vulnerability management teams.

This is the second-rated critical vulnerability of the OpenSSL project

https://twitter.com/iamamoose/status/1584908434855628800 

The open SSL project team announced the release of a minor version to fix the vulnerability, but it will be available on the 1st of 2022. OpenSSL 3.0.7 will patch the critical vulnerability with the disclosure of the vulnerability.

Why a lot of attention and nervousness on this vulnerability? 

In 2014, the critical Heartbleed bug was announced and fixed; it became obvious how many systems depend on this vulnerability and how long it took for all the systems to be aligned to this new version. 

As OpenSSL is a widespread library, shown below is just a fraction of the direct usage: 

After log4j software composition analysis and infrastructure, the composition is ever more critical. 

The challenge with OpenSSL is that is nested in a lot of systems and a lot of libraries. 

So while you might be safe on an Operating system (not using openssl), the container that runs on it or the embedded software might expose and use

Controversial announcement

The patch for the critical vulnerability was announced on october 25th weeks before the official patch.

Tweet: https://twitter.com/iamamoose/status/1584908434855628800 

This allowed the team to gear up and prepare for fixes. There is a debate that this behaviour could trigger attackers to exploit the vulnerability https://twitter.com/__agwa/status/1584916997472751618 

System Affected

OpenSSL is included in many operating systems (Windows, macOS, various Linux distributions, etc.); client-side software; web and email server software (Apache, nginx, etc.); network appliances (Cisco, Fortinet, Juniper, etc.), industrial control systems, and so on.

Best defence

As this is an RCE, the best way to defend is to 

1 – create an inventory of all the systems that have open SSL installed and could have open SSL installed.

2 – fix as many instances as possible, prioritizing the one that can access easily

3 – for systems, repo that can’t be immediately fixed (vendors, SLA, maintenance), apply virtual patches on a WAF level to prevent specific strings from triggering the vulnerability. as there is no advisory in this space on the specific string, stay tuned for further updates

Challenges with those types of libraries

The challenge with open-source libraries, log4j, for example, is that a relatively small pool of people maintains them for free. This is quickly changing, with Google pledging large amounts of money to fix open-source libraries.

Key Point of this vulnerability:

  • The vulnerability seems to affect only OpenSSL 3.x releases, if you’re not using OpenSSL 3.x (ie, you’re still on OpenSSL 1.x across your org), you might be OK. Ensure your inventory is well maintained to determine whether you’re affected.
  • If you have systems which use OpenSSL 3.x that are Internet-facing or run critical functions (authn, authz), consider putting some mitigation in place ahead of this. Ex: if TLS termination occurs on a system which uses OpenSSL 3.x, consider delegating TLS termination to a system with a different TLS stack till you can patch.
  • If you have vendors who may use OpenSSL, now is the time to inquire whether they use 3.x releases and their errata schedule. Also list all the vendors that might have OpenSSL
use: openssl s_client -connect <domain name or IP>:<port>
  • Consider instituting a change freeze on/around November 1 to allow your teams the opportunity to build/test/release/patch as your highest priority if you’re using OpenSSL 3.x
  • OpenSSL is a library. Libraries can be linked to statically or dynamically. Consider how you would patch your systems in both cases.
  • * Any software upgrade, including dependent libraries, must go through testing. Complex distributed systems are hard. Make no assumptions about how a “trivial” patch may affect your systems.
  • * In case your systems use OpenSSL 3.x, how would you address static vs dynamically linked programs? What mitigation and patch strategies do you have?
  • What are your playbooks if a breach occurs prior to completing your mitigation or patch strategy? Work with your leadership team to understand your options for each scenario. Documenting scenarios and viable paths help to avoid rash decisions in stressful situations.
  • * During the log4j firefight, we saw numerous security commenters jump on the vulnerability, spreading misinformation and asking to remove libraries. 
  • This can cause a lot more pain, and removing a component can cause an enormous ripple effect. 
  • Fixing a vulnerability in code or on a system should always be staged, tested and verified with proper regression testing. Allow enough time for this implementing mitigating countermeasures like virtual patching.

Best of luck to all the security team and development team working on this

Previous Issues of vulnerability Weekly

Picture of Francesco Cipollone

Francesco Cipollone

Francesco is an internationally renowned public speaker, with multiple interviews in high-profile publications (eg. Forbes), and an author of numerous books and articles, who utilises his platform to evangelize the importance of Cloud security and cutting-edge technologies on a global scale.
27th October 2022
Francesco is an internationally renowned public speaker, with multiple interviews in high-profile publications (eg. Forbes), and an author of numerous books and articles, who utilises his platform to evangelize the importance of Cloud security and cutting-edge technologies on a global scale.

Discuss this blog with our community on Slack

Join our AppSec Phoenix community on Slack to discuss this blog and other news with our professional security team

Join Slack community
Linkedin-in Youtube Facebook-f Twitter Instagram

From our Blog

  • 8th April 2025

Announcing Phoenix Threat Centric Approach

Learn how to predict ransomware risks and vulnerability exploitation using a threat-centric approach. Explore data-driven insights, verified exploit trends, and methods for assessing the likelihood of attacks with key references to CISA KEV, EPSS, and Phoenix Security’s 4D Risk Formula.
Francesco Cipollone
  • 8th April 2025

A Threat-Centric Look at Vulnerability Exploitation Likelihood and Ransomware Risk

Remote Code Execution flaws continue to undermine Kubernetes ingress integrity. IngressNightmare (CVE-2025-1097, CVE-2025-1098, CVE-2025-24514, CVE-2025-1974) showcases severe threat vectors in NGINX-based proxies, leading to cluster-wide exposure. ASPM, robust remediation tactics, and strong application security solutions—like Phoenix Security—mitigate these vulnerabilities before ransomware groups exploit them.
Francesco Cipollone
  • 25th March 2025

IS  NGINX IngressNightmare bad? Bad news it is: Critical Remote Code Execution Threats (CVE-2025-1097, CVE-2025-1098, CVE-2025-24514, CVE-2025-1974)

Remote Code Execution flaws continue to undermine Kubernetes ingress integrity. IngressNightmare (CVE-2025-1097, CVE-2025-1098, CVE-2025-24514, CVE-2025-1974) showcases severe threat vectors in NGINX-based proxies, leading to cluster-wide exposure. ASPM, robust remediation tactics, and strong application security solutions—like Phoenix Security—mitigate these vulnerabilities before ransomware groups exploit them.
Francesco Cipollone
WIZ+Google Purchase what's the impact on cloud security
  • 20th March 2025

Google Bought Wiz for $32B. Now What? Why Is It Great for the Security Market?

The recent Google acquisition of Wiz for $32 billion has sent shockwaves through the cybersecurity industry, particularly in the realm of Application Security Posture Management (ASPM). This monumental deal highlights the critical importance of cloud security and the growing demand for robust ASPM solutions. While the acquisition promises potential benefits for Google Cloud users, it also raises concerns about vendor lock-in and the future of cloud-agnostic security. Explore the implications of this acquisition and discover how neutral ASPM solutions like Phoenix Security can bridge the gap in multi-cloud environments, ensuring continuous, collaborative, and comprehensive security from code to cloud.” – Find Assets/Vulns by Scanner – Detailed findings Location information Risk-based Posture Management – Risk and Risk Magnitude for Assets – Filter assets and vulnerabilities by source scanner Integrations – BurpSuite XML Import – Assessment Import API Other Improvements – Improved multi-selection in filters – New CVSS Score column in Vulnerabilities
Alfonso Eusebio
  • 19th March 2025

Phoenix Security Features – March 2025

The team at Phoenix Security pleased to bring you another set of new application security (ASPM) features and improvements for vulnerability management across application and cloud security engines. This release builds on top of previous releases with key additions and progress across multiple areas of the platform. Application Security Posture Management (ASPM) Enhancements • New Weighted Asset Risk Formula – Refined risk aggregation for tailored vulnerability management. • Auto-Approval of Risk Exceptions – Accelerate mitigation by automating security approvals. • Enhanced Risk Explorer & Business Unit Insights – Monitor and analyze risk exposure by business units for better prioritization. Vulnerability & Asset Management • Link Findings to Existing Tickets – Seamless GitHub, ServiceNow, and Azure DevOps integration. • Multi-Finding Ticketing for ADO – Group multiple vulnerabilities in a single ticket for better workflow management. • Filter by Business Unit, CWE, Ownership, and Deployment Environment – Target vulnerabilities with precision using advanced filtering. Cyber Threat Intelligence & Security Enhancements • Cyber Threat Intelligence Premium – Access 128,000+ exploits for better exploitability and fixability metrics. • SBOM, Container SBOM & Open Source Artifact Analysis – Conduct deep security analysis with reachability insights. • Enhanced Lacework Container Management – Fetch and analyze running container details for better security reporting. • REST API Enhancements – Use asset tags for automated deployments and streamline security processes. Other Key Updates • CVE & CWE Columns Added – Compare vulnerabilities more effectively. • Custom Status Management for Findings – Personalize security workflows with custom status configurations. • Impact & Risk Explorer Side Panel – Gain heatmap-based insights into vulnerability distribution and team risk impact. 🚀 Stay ahead of vulnerabilities, optimize risk assessment, and enhance security efficiency with Phoenix Security’s latest features! 🚀
Alfonso Eusebio
CVE-2025-30066 Tj Action, Supply Chain
  • 16th March 2025

CVE-2025-30066 tj-actions/changed-files GitHub Action Compromise: Impacts on Software Supply Chain Security and ASPM

Discover CVE-2025-30066 tj-actions/changed-files GitHub Action has been compromised, exposing secrets in CI/CD pipelines and posing a major software supply chain security risk. Attackers injected malicious code into all versions (V1–V45), repointing existing tags to a compromised commit that exfiltrated credentials via GitHub Actions logs. Immediate remediation is required—organizations must scan their repositories, rotate secrets, and replace the action to mitigate risk. Learn how Phoenix Security’s ASPM can automate threat detection and enhance GitHub Actions security.
Francesco Cipollone
Derek

Derek Fisher

Linkedin

Head of product security at a global fintech

Derek Fisher – Head of product security at a global fintech. Speaker, instructor, and author in application security.

Derek is an award winning author of a children’s book series in cybersecurity as well as the author of “The Application Security Handbook.” He is a university instructor at Temple University where he teaches software development security to undergraduate and graduate students. He is a speaker on topics in the cybersecurity space and has led teams, large and small, at organizations in the healthcare and financial industries. He has built and matured information security teams as well as implemented organizational information security strategies to reduce the organizations risk.

Derek got his start in the hardware engineering space where he learned about designing circuits and building assemblies for commercial and military applications. He later pursued a computer science degree in order to advance a career in software development. This is where Derek was introduced to cybersecurity and soon caught the bug. He found a mentor to help him grow in cybersecurity and then pursued a graduate degree in the subject.

Since then Derek has worked in the product security space as an architect and leader. He has led teams to deliver more secure software in organizations from multiple industries. His focus has been to raise the security awareness of the engineering organization while maintaining a practice of secure code development, delivery, and operations.

In his role, Jeevan handles a range of tasks, from architecting security solutions to collaborating with Engineering Leadership to address security vulnerabilities at scale and embed security into the fabric of the organization.

Jeevan Singh

Jeevan Singh

Linkedin

Founder of Manicode Security

Jeevan Singh is the Director of Security Engineering at Rippling, with a background spanning various Engineering and Security leadership roles over the course of his career. He’s dedicated to the integration of security practices into software development, working to create a security-aware culture within organizations and imparting security best practices to the team.
In his role, Jeevan handles a range of tasks, from architecting security solutions to collaborating with Engineering Leadership to address security vulnerabilities at scale and embed security into the fabric of the organization.

James

James Berthoty

Linkedin

Founder of Latio Tech

James Berthoty has over ten years of experience across product and security domains. He founded Latio Tech to help companies find the right security tools for their needs without vendor bias.

christophe

Christophe Parisel

Linkedin

Senior Cloud Security Architect

Senior Cloud Security Architect

Chris

Chris Romeo

Linkedin

Co-Founder
Security Journey

Chris Romeo is a leading voice and thinker in application security, threat modeling, and security champions and the CEO of Devici and General Partner at Kerr Ventures. Chris hosts the award-winning “Application Security Podcast,” “The Security Table,” and “The Threat Modeling Podcast” and is a highly rated industry speaker and trainer, featured at the RSA Conference, the AppSec Village @ DefCon, OWASP Global AppSec, ISC2 Security Congress, InfoSec World and All Day DevOps. Chris founded Security Journey, a security education company, leading to an exit in 2022. Chris was the Chief Security Advocate at Cisco, spreading security knowledge through education and champion programs. Chris has twenty-six years of security experience, holding positions across the gamut, including application security, security engineering, incident response, and various Executive roles. Chris holds the CISSP and CSSLP certifications.

jim

Jim Manico

Linkedin

Founder of Manicode Security

Jim Manico is the founder of Manicode Security, where he trains software developers on secure coding and security engineering. Jim is also the founder of Brakeman Security, Inc. and an investor/advisor for Signal Sciences. He is the author of Iron-Clad Java: Building Secure Web Applications (McGraw-Hill), a frequent speaker on secure software practices, and a member of the JavaOne Rockstar speaker community. Jim is also a volunteer for and former board member of the OWASP foundation.

Join our Mailing list!

Get all the latest news, exclusive deals, and feature updates.

The IKIGAI concept
x Powerful Protection for WordPress, from Shield Security
This Site Is Protected By
ShieldPRO →