Vulnerability Snapshot
CVE-2024-4741 is rated CRITICAL — exploitation is trivial or already observed in the wild and impact is severe. Patch immediately, not on the next maintenance window.
Executive 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 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 arrive
Why It Matters
CVE-2024-4741 is rated CRITICAL severity, requiring immediate attention from security teams.
CVSS Base Score: 9.8/10
🛡️What Defenders Should Check
Use Vulnios to continuously monitor your exposure to CVE-2024-4741 and similar vulnerabilities.
References & Sources
How Vulnios Detects This
Vulnios scans for this vulnerability using Trivy and Grype for SBOM-based CVE matching and Vulnios CVE feed continuous monitoring against your asset inventory. Run a scan against your environment to see whether you are exposed; findings are linked back to the original CVE record so triage starts with the patch path already known.
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Sources
Related Threat Alerts
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2024-4741?
CVE-2024-4741 is a critical-severity vulnerability tracked under the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures program. 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 pote
Am I affected?
Affected technology is listed in the Affected Products section above. If your asset inventory contains any of them, assume in-scope until you can prove otherwise.
How urgent is the response?
Critical: do not wait for your normal patch cycle. Verify exposure today, apply the vendor patch immediately, and add detection rules for any post-exploit indicators.
How do I remediate?
Apply the vendor patch listed in the upstream advisory linked under Sources. If the patch is not yet available, follow the vendor-supplied workaround (often a config flag or feature disable) and add detections for the published exploit pattern in your SIEM. Re-scan after the patch lands to confirm the finding clears.
Where can I track exploitation activity?
Watch CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog for CVE-2024-4741. Cross-reference with public exploit databases and your own SIEM/IDS for indicator-of-compromise patterns. Vulnios tracks KEV status automatically and surfaces it on the asset findings view.
How does Vulnios help with this?
Vulnios continuously cross-references your asset inventory against the live CVE feed (NVD, vendor advisories, CISA KEV, and curated OSINT). When a new CVE matches your environment, you get a prioritized finding with the severity, KEV status, exploit-prediction (EPSS), and a direct path to the vendor patch. You can start a free scan from the homepage.
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