CVE-2022-42916

Plain English Summary

AI-powered analysis for quick understanding

This vulnerability allows an attacker to trick curl into using an insecure HTTP connection instead of the intended secure HTTPS connection by manipulating the URL with special characters. This can happen when the URL includes international domain names that get converted to ASCII, making it possible for the attacker to bypass security checks designed to enforce HTTPS.

Technical Description

In curl before 7.86.0, the HSTS check could be bypassed to trick it into staying with HTTP. Using its HSTS support, curl can be instructed to use HTTPS directly (instead of using an insecure cleartext HTTP step) even when HTTP is provided in the URL. This mechanism could be bypassed if the host name in the given URL uses IDN characters that get replaced with ASCII counterparts as part of the IDN conversion, e.g., using the character UTF-8 U+3002 (IDEOGRAPHIC FULL STOP) instead of the common ASCII full stop of U+002E (.). The earliest affected version is 7.77.0 2021-05-26.

CVSS Vector Analysis

Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredNone
User InteractionNone
Confidentiality ImpactHigh
Integrity ImpactNone
Availability ImpactNone
ScopeUnchanged

Vector String

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Exploit Resources

Search for proof-of-concept code and exploit modules

Official References

Est. Bounty
$2,053($1K-$5K)
Vendor Response
Grade FPatched in 1203 days

Quick Information

Published

Oct 29, 2022

over 3 years ago

Last Modified

Feb 13, 2026

7 days ago

Vendor

haxx

Product

curl

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CVE-2023-27533High

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CVE-2023-23915Medium

This vulnerability allows an attacker to potentially intercept sensitive information during data transfers because the curl tool may fail to upgrade certain HTTP requests to secure HTTPS when multiple requests are made at the same time. This issue occurs only when using curl versions prior to 7.88.0 and can lead to unprotected data being sent over the internet instead of the intended secure connection.

CVE-2022-43551High

An attacker can trick curl into using an insecure HTTP connection instead of the intended secure HTTPS by manipulating the URL with special characters that confuse the software's security checks. This vulnerability occurs when the URL contains IDN characters that are converted to ASCII, allowing the attacker to bypass the HSTS protection that should enforce secure connections.

CVE-2022-32221Critical

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