Skip to main content

Improper Certificate Validation

CVE-2016-3083

Severity High
Score 7.5/10

Summary

Apache Hive (JDBC + HiveServer2) implements SSL for plain TCP and HTTP connections (it supports both transport modes). While validating the server's certificate during the connection setup, the client in Apache Hive before 1.2.2 and 2.0.x before 2.0.1 doesn't seem to be verifying the common name attribute of the certificate. In this way, if a JDBC client sends an SSL request to server abc.com, and the server responds with a valid certificate (certified by CA) but issued to xyz.com, the client will accept that as a valid certificate and the SSL handshake will go through.

  • LOW
  • NETWORK
  • HIGH
  • UNCHANGED
  • NONE
  • NONE
  • NONE
  • NONE

CWE-295 - Improper Certificate Validation

The authenticity component of a web system stems from the ability to validate “Digital certificates”, which (i) establish trust between two or more entities sharing data over a network; (ii) ensure data at rest and transit is secure from unauthorized access; and (iii) check the identity of the actors that interact with the system. An application with absent or ineffective certificate validation mechanisms allows malicious users, impersonating trusted hosts, to manipulate the communication path between the client and the host, resulting in unauthorized access to data and to the application’s internal environment, and potentially enabling man-in-the-middle attacks.

Advisory Timeline

  • Published