[oCERT-2008-016] Multiple OpenSSL signature verification API misuses

2009-01-0900:00:00

vulners.com

JSON

#2008-016 multiple OpenSSL signature verification API misuse

Description:

Several functions inside the OpenSSL library incorrectly check the result
after calling the EVP_VerifyFinal function.

This bug allows a malformed signature to be treated as a good signature
rather than as an error. This issue affects the signature checks on DSA
and ECDSA keys used with SSL/TLS.

The flaw may be exploited by a malicious server or a man-in-the-middle
attack that presents a malformed SSL/TLS signature from a certificate
chain to a vulnerable client, bypassing validation.

A patch fixing the issue with proper return code checking and further
important recommendations are described in the original OpenSSL Team
advisory.

At the request of the OpenSSL team, oCERT has aided in the remediation
coordination for other projects with similar API misuse vulnerabilities.
In addition to EVP_VerifyFinal, the return codes from DSA_verify and
DSA_do_verify functions were being incorrectly validated, and packages
doing so are affected in a similar fashion as OpenSSL.

Affected version:

OpenSSL <= 0.9.8i [1]

The following packages were identified as affected by the same OpenSSL
vulnerability, as they use OpenSSL EVP_VerifyFinal function and
incorrectly check the return code.

NTP <= 4.2.4p5 (production), <= 4.2.5p150 (development)

Sun GridEngine <= 5.3

Gale <= 0.99

OpenEvidence <= 1.0.6

Belgian eID middleware - eidlib <= 2.6.0 [2]

Freedom Network Server <= 2.x

The following packages were identified as affected by a vulnerability
similar to the OpenSSL one, as they use OpenSSL DSA_verify function and
incorrectly check the return code.

BIND <= 9.4.3

Lasso <= 2.2.1

ZXID <= 0.29

1 - use of OpenSSL as an SSL/TLS client when connecting to a server whose
certificate uses an RSA key is NOT affected. Verification of client
certificates by OpenSSL servers for any key type is NOT affected.

2 - Belgian eID middleware latest versions are not available in source
form, therefore we cannot confirm if they are affected

Fixed version:

OpenSSL >= 0.9.8j

NTP >= 4.2.4p6 (production), >= 4.2.5p153 (development)

Sun GridEngine >= 6.0

Gale N/A

OpenEvidence N/A

Belgian eID middleware - eidlib N/A

Freedom Network Server N/A

BIND >= 9.3.6-P1, 9.4.3-P1, 9.5.1-P1, 9.6.0-P1

Lasso >= 2.2.2

ZXID N/A

Credit: Google Security Team (for the original OpenSSL issue).

CVE: CVE-2008-5077 (OpenSSL),
CVE-2009-0021 (NTP),
CVE-2009-0025 (BIND)

Timeline:
2008-12-16: OpenSSL Security Team requests coordination aid from oCERT
2008-12-16: oCERT investigates packages affected by similar issues
2008-12-16: contacted affected vendors
2008-12-17: investigation expanded to DSA verification
2008-12-17: BIND, Lasso and ZXID added to affected packages
2008-12-18: contacted additional affected vendors
2009-01-05: status updates and patch dissemination to affected vendors
2009-01-05: confirmation from BIND of issue and fix
2009-01-06: requested CVE assignment for BIND
2009-01-07: advisory published

References:
http://openssl.org/news/secadv_20090107.txt

Links:
http://openssl.org/
http://www.ntp.org/
http://gridengine.sunsource.net/
http://gale.org/
http://www.openevidence.org/
http://eid.belgium.be/
http://www.google.com/codesearch/p?#1vGzyQX--LU/achilles/remailer/zero-knowledge/freedomserver-2.x.tgz/
https://www.isc.org/products/BIND
http://lasso.entrouvert.org/
http://www.zxid.org/