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Improper Certificate Validation

CVE-2017-2629

Severity Medium
Score 6.5/10

Summary

curl 7.52.0 before 7.53.0 has an incorrect TLS Certificate Status Request extension feature that asks for a fresh proof of the server's certificate's validity in the code that checks for a test success or failure. It ends up always thinking there's valid proof, even when there is none or if the server doesn't support the TLS extension in question. This could lead to users not detecting when a server's certificate goes invalid or otherwise be mislead that the server is in a better shape than it is in reality. This flaw also exists in the command line tool (--cert-status).

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

References

Advisory Timeline

  • Published