There's a highest severity security hole in openssl
v3.0.x where x<7. The patched version (3.0.7) has officially dropped on November 1, 2022.
How to install/update openssl 3.0.7 on an Ubuntu 22.04 system?
Update: The vulnerability has been downgraded from Critical to High.
First, you need to know that there are TWO ways to fix a vulnerability: Upgrading and Patching.
This means that a fully-secure openssl package in Ubuntu WON'T be version 3.0.7. That's why we need to know the specific CVE(s) for the vulnerabilities.
Second, lets find those CVE(s). A bit of search-engine-fu reveals that the OpenSSL 3.0.7 release targets two CVEs:
Third, let's look at CVE-2022-3602 in the Ubuntu CVE Tracker:
This tells us a couple of important things:
openssl
.Fourth, let's dig a little deeper by looking at package details the tracker:
Now we know the exact version numbers of
openssl
packages that are patched and secure.Finally, let's see if our 22.04 system has that secure package version
It's not the secure version (recall that the secure version is
3.0.2-0ubuntu1.7
). But it was released today, so a simplesudo apt update
andsudo apt upgrade
shows an openssl update, then:SECURE! This system is now running a package that has been patched by the Ubuntu Security Team to mitigate CVE-2022-3602.
Checking if CVE-2022-3786 is also mitigated is left as an exercise for the student.
One final note: If a lot of this information was new to you (patching, CVEs, tracker, confusing version numbers), then one easy way to pierce the veil and understand what's going on is a couple episodes of the Ubuntu Security Podcast, a short weekly discussion of security-related topics from the Ubuntu Security Team. They want you to understand it!