Improper Certificate Validation
CVE-2020-24661
Summary
GNOME Geary before 3.36.3 mishandles pinned TLS certificate verification for IMAP and SMTP services using invalid TLS certificates (e.g., self-signed certificates) when the client system is not configured to use a system-provided PKCS#11 store. This allows a meddler in the middle to present a different invalid certificate to intercept incoming and outgoing mail.
- HIGH
- NETWORK
- NONE
- NONE
- PARTIAL
- 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
