CVE-2024-1394: Golang-fips/openssl: memory leaks in code encrypting and decrypting rsa payloads

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2024-1394 is a high (CVSS 7.5) vulnerability in go. EPSS estimates a 1.53% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 74.8% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 21-03-2024
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 29-10-2026
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

A memory leak flaw was found in Golang in the RSA encrypting/decrypting code, which might lead to a resource exhaustion vulnerability using attacker-controlled inputs​. The memory leak happens in github.com/golang-fips/openssl/openssl/rsa.go#L113. The objects leaked are pkey​ and ctx​. That function uses named return parameters to free pkey​ and ctx​ if there is an error initializing the context or setting the different properties. All return statements related to error cases follow the "return nil, nil, fail(...)" pattern, meaning that pkey​ and ctx​ will be nil inside the deferred function that should free them.

• CWE-401Missing Release of Memory after Effective LifetimeThe product does not sufficiently track and release allocated memory after it has been used, making the memory unavailable for reallocation and reuse.