---
id: CVE-2024-4741
title: Use After Free with SSL_free_buffers
summary: >-
  Issue summary: Calling the OpenSSL API function SSL_free_buffers may cause

  memory to be accessed that was previously freed in some situations


  Impact summary: A use after free can have a range of potential consequences
  such

  as the corrup…
severity: critical
cvss: 9.8
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'
cvssSource: adp
cwe:
  - CWE-416
vendor: OpenSSL
product: OpenSSL
affected:
  - OpenSSL >= 3.3.0 < 3.3.1
  - OpenSSL >= 3.2.0 < 3.2.2
  - OpenSSL >= 3.1.0 < 3.1.6
  - OpenSSL >= 3.0.0 < 3.0.14
  - OpenSSL >= 1.1.1 < 1.1.1y
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'yes'
  technicalImpact: total
  timestamp: '2026-11-06T21:40:09.343062Z'
published: '2024-11-13'
updated: '2026-11-06'
sourceUpdated: '2026-11-06T21:40:56.289Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-4741'
references:
  - url: 'https://www.openssl.org/news/secadv/20240528.txt'
    label: OpenSSL Advisory
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/e5093133c35ca82874ad83697af76f4b0f7e3bd8
    label: 3.3.1 git commit
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/c88c3de51020c37e8706bf7a682a162593053aac
    label: 3.2.2 git commit
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/704f725b96aa373ee45ecfb23f6abfe8be8d9177
    label: 3.1.6 git commit
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/b3f0eb0a295f58f16ba43ba99dad70d4ee5c437d
    label: 3.0.14 git commit
  - url: >-
      https://github.openssl.org/openssl/extended-releases/commit/f7a045f3143fc6da2ee66bf52d8df04829590dd4
    label: 1.1.1y git commit
tags:
  - cve.org
epss: 0.02926
epssPercentile: 0.87159
ingestedAt: '2026-11-06T22:04:56.313Z'
---

## Overview

Issue summary: Calling the OpenSSL API function SSL_free_buffers may cause
memory to be accessed that was previously freed in some situations

Impact summary: A use after free can have a range of potential consequences such
as the corruption of valid data, crashes or execution of arbitrary code.
However, only applications that directly call the SSL_free_buffers function are
affected by this issue. Applications that do not call this function are not
vulnerable. Our investigations indicate that this function is rarely used by
applications.

The SSL_free_buffers function is used to free the internal OpenSSL buffer used
when processing an incoming record from the network. The call is only expected
to succeed if the buffer is not currently in use. However, two scenarios have
been identified where the buffer is freed even when still in use.

The first scenario occurs where a record header has been received from the
network and processed by OpenSSL, but the full record body has not yet arrived.
In this case calling SSL_free_buffers will succeed even though a record has only
been partially processed and the buffer is still in use.

The second scenario occurs where a full record containing application data has
been received and processed by OpenSSL but the application has only read part of
this data. Again a call to SSL_free_buffers will succeed even though the buffer
is still in use.

While these scenarios could occur accidentally during normal operation a
malicious attacker could attempt to engineer a stituation where this occurs.
We are not aware of this issue being actively exploited.

The FIPS modules in 3.3, 3.2, 3.1 and 3.0 are not affected by this issue.

## Affected

- `OpenSSL >= 3.3.0 < 3.3.1`
- `OpenSSL >= 3.2.0 < 3.2.2`
- `OpenSSL >= 3.1.0 < 3.1.6`
- `OpenSSL >= 3.0.0 < 3.0.14`
- `OpenSSL >= 1.1.1 < 1.1.1y`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.