CVE-2022-24968

Improper Validation of Certificate with Host Mismatch in mellium.im/xmpp/websocket

Workarounds

To work around the issue, manually specify a TLS configuration with the correct hostname.

References

• https://mellium.im/cve/cve-2022-24968/
• https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-24968

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

• Reach out on XMPP to [email protected]
• Email us at [email protected]

If no TLS configuration is provided by the user, the websocket package constructs its own TLS configuration using recommended defaults. When looking up a WSS endpoint using the DNS TXT record method described in XEP-0156: Discovering Alternative XMPP Connection Methods the ServerName field was incorrectly being set to the name of the server returned by the TXT record request, not the name of the initial server we were attempting to connect to. This means that any attacker that can spoof a DNS record (ie. in the absence of DNSSEC, DNS-over-TLS, DNS-over-HTTPS, or similar technologies) could redirect the user to a server of their choosing and as long as it had a valid TLS certificate for itself the connection would succeed, resulting in a MITM situation.

CVE-2022-24968 has a CVSS score of 5.9 (Medium). The vector is network-reachable, no privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (0.21.1); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

Already deployed Kodem?

All users should upgrade to v0.21.1.

1. What is CVE-2022-24968? CVE-2022-24968 is a medium-severity security vulnerability in mellium.im/xmpp (go), affecting versions >= 0.18.0, < 0.21.1. It is fixed in 0.21.1.
2. How severe is CVE-2022-24968? CVE-2022-24968 has a CVSS score of 5.9 (Medium). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
3. Which versions of mellium.im/xmpp are affected by CVE-2022-24968? mellium.im/xmpp (go) versions >= 0.18.0, < 0.21.1 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2022-24968? Yes. CVE-2022-24968 is fixed in 0.21.1. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2022-24968 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2022-24968 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
6. What actually determines whether CVE-2022-24968 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
7. How do I fix CVE-2022-24968? Upgrade mellium.im/xmpp to 0.21.1 or later.

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