Vulnerabilities > CVE-2014-3230 - Improper Certificate Validation vulnerability in Lwp::Protocol::Https Project Lwp::Protocol::Https 6.04/6.06

047910
CVSS 4.3 - MEDIUM
Attack vector
NETWORK
Attack complexity
MEDIUM
Privileges required
NONE
Confidentiality impact
NONE
Integrity impact
PARTIAL
Availability impact
NONE
network
lwp
CWE-295
nessus

Summary

The libwww-perl LWP::Protocol::https module 6.04 through 6.06 for Perl, when using IO::Socket::SSL as the SSL socket class, allows attackers to disable server certificate validation via the (1) HTTPS_CA_DIR or (2) HTTPS_CA_FILE environment variable.

Vulnerable Configurations

Part Description Count
Application
Lwp\
2

Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE)

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)

  • Creating a Rogue Certificate Authority Certificate
    An attacker exploits a weakness in the MD5 hash algorithm (weak collision resistance) to generate a certificate signing request (CSR) that contains collision blocks in the "to be signed" part. The attacker specially crafts two different, but valid X.509 certificates that when hashed with the MD5 algorithm would yield the same value. The attacker then sends the CSR for one of the certificates to the Certification Authority which uses the MD5 hashing algorithm. That request is completely valid and the Certificate Authority issues an X.509 certificate to the attacker which is signed with its private key. An attacker then takes that signed blob and inserts it into another X.509 certificate that the attacker generated. Due to the MD5 collision, both certificates, though different, hash to the same value and so the signed blob works just as well in the second certificate. The net effect is that the attackers' second X.509 certificate, which the Certification Authority has never seen, is now signed and validated by that Certification Authority. To make the attack more interesting, the second certificate could be not just a regular certificate, but rather itself a signing certificate. Thus the attacker is able to start their own Certification Authority that is anchored in its root of trust in the legitimate Certification Authority that has signed the attackers' first X.509 certificate. If the original Certificate Authority was accepted by default by browsers, so will now the Certificate Authority set up by the attacker and of course any certificates that it signs. So the attacker is now able to generate any SSL certificates to impersonate any web server, and the user's browser will not issue any warning to the victim. This can be used to compromise HTTPS communications and other types of systems where PKI and X.509 certificates may be used (e.g., VPN, IPSec) .

Nessus

  • NASL familyUbuntu Local Security Checks
    NASL idUBUNTU_USN-2292-1.NASL
    descriptionIt was discovered that the LWP::Protocol::https perl module incorrectly disabled peer certificate verification completely when only hostname verification was requested to be disabled. If a remote attacker were able to perform a man-in-the-middle attack, this flaw could possibly be exploited in certain scenarios to alter or compromise confidential information in applications that used the LWP::Protocol::https module. Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Ubuntu security advisory. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues.
    last seen2020-06-01
    modified2020-06-02
    plugin id76587
    published2014-07-18
    reporterUbuntu Security Notice (C) 2014-2020 Canonical, Inc. / NASL script (C) 2014-2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/76587
    titleUbuntu 14.04 LTS : liblwp-protocol-https-perl vulnerability (USN-2292-1)
    code
    #
    # (C) Tenable Network Security, Inc.
    #
    # The descriptive text and package checks in this plugin were
    # extracted from Ubuntu Security Notice USN-2292-1. The text 
    # itself is copyright (C) Canonical, Inc. See 
    # <http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/>. Ubuntu(R) is a registered 
    # trademark of Canonical, Inc.
    #
    
    include("compat.inc");
    
    if (description)
    {
      script_id(76587);
      script_version("1.8");
      script_cvs_date("Date: 2020/02/07");
    
      script_cve_id("CVE-2014-3230");
      script_bugtraq_id(67202);
      script_xref(name:"USN", value:"2292-1");
    
      script_name(english:"Ubuntu 14.04 LTS : liblwp-protocol-https-perl vulnerability (USN-2292-1)");
      script_summary(english:"Checks dpkg output for updated package.");
    
      script_set_attribute(
        attribute:"synopsis", 
        value:"The remote Ubuntu host is missing a security-related patch."
      );
      script_set_attribute(
        attribute:"description", 
        value:
    "It was discovered that the LWP::Protocol::https perl module
    incorrectly disabled peer certificate verification completely when
    only hostname verification was requested to be disabled. If a remote
    attacker were able to perform a man-in-the-middle attack, this flaw
    could possibly be exploited in certain scenarios to alter or
    compromise confidential information in applications that used the
    LWP::Protocol::https module.
    
    Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding
    description block directly from the Ubuntu security advisory. Tenable
    has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible
    without introducing additional issues."
      );
      script_set_attribute(
        attribute:"see_also",
        value:"https://usn.ubuntu.com/2292-1/"
      );
      script_set_attribute(
        attribute:"solution", 
        value:"Update the affected liblwp-protocol-https-perl package."
      );
      script_set_cvss_base_vector("CVSS2#AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N");
      script_set_cvss_temporal_vector("CVSS2#E:U/RL:OF/RC:C");
      script_set_cvss3_base_vector("CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N");
      script_set_cvss3_temporal_vector("CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:O/RC:C");
      script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploitability_ease", value:"No known exploits are available");
      script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploit_available", value:"false");
    
      script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_type", value:"local");
      script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:liblwp-protocol-https-perl");
      script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:14.04");
    
      script_set_attribute(attribute:"vuln_publication_date", value:"2020/01/28");
      script_set_attribute(attribute:"patch_publication_date", value:"2014/07/17");
      script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_publication_date", value:"2014/07/18");
      script_set_attribute(attribute:"generated_plugin", value:"current");
      script_end_attributes();
    
      script_category(ACT_GATHER_INFO);
      script_copyright(english:"Ubuntu Security Notice (C) 2014-2020 Canonical, Inc. / NASL script (C) 2014-2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.");
      script_family(english:"Ubuntu Local Security Checks");
    
      script_dependencies("ssh_get_info.nasl");
      script_require_keys("Host/cpu", "Host/Ubuntu", "Host/Ubuntu/release", "Host/Debian/dpkg-l");
    
      exit(0);
    }
    
    
    include("audit.inc");
    include("ubuntu.inc");
    include("misc_func.inc");
    
    if ( ! get_kb_item("Host/local_checks_enabled") ) audit(AUDIT_LOCAL_CHECKS_NOT_ENABLED);
    release = get_kb_item("Host/Ubuntu/release");
    if ( isnull(release) ) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "Ubuntu");
    release = chomp(release);
    if (! preg(pattern:"^(14\.04)$", string:release)) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "Ubuntu 14.04", "Ubuntu " + release);
    if ( ! get_kb_item("Host/Debian/dpkg-l") ) audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_LIST_MISSING);
    
    cpu = get_kb_item("Host/cpu");
    if (isnull(cpu)) audit(AUDIT_UNKNOWN_ARCH);
    if ("x86_64" >!< cpu && cpu !~ "^i[3-6]86$") audit(AUDIT_LOCAL_CHECKS_NOT_IMPLEMENTED, "Ubuntu", cpu);
    
    flag = 0;
    
    if (ubuntu_check(osver:"14.04", pkgname:"liblwp-protocol-https-perl", pkgver:"6.04-2ubuntu0.1")) flag++;
    
    if (flag)
    {
      security_report_v4(
        port       : 0,
        severity   : SECURITY_WARNING,
        extra      : ubuntu_report_get()
      );
      exit(0);
    }
    else
    {
      tested = ubuntu_pkg_tests_get();
      if (tested) audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_NOT_AFFECTED, tested);
      else audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_NOT_INSTALLED, "liblwp-protocol-https-perl");
    }
    
  • NASL familyFedora Local Security Checks
    NASL idFEDORA_2014-6303.NASL
    descriptionThis release fixes a server certification validation when a certificate authority is defined by HTTPS_CA_DIR or HTTPS_CA_FILE environement variable. Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Fedora security advisory. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues.
    last seen2020-03-17
    modified2014-05-22
    plugin id74131
    published2014-05-22
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2014-2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/74131
    titleFedora 20 : perl-LWP-Protocol-https-6.04-4.fc20 (2014-6303)
    code
    #%NASL_MIN_LEVEL 80502
    #
    # (C) Tenable Network Security, Inc.
    #
    # The descriptive text and package checks in this plugin were  
    # extracted from Fedora Security Advisory 2014-6303.
    #
    
    include("compat.inc");
    
    if (description)
    {
      script_id(74131);
      script_version("1.7");
      script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_modification_date", value:"2020/03/12");
    
      script_cve_id("CVE-2014-3230");
      script_bugtraq_id(67202);
      script_xref(name:"FEDORA", value:"2014-6303");
    
      script_name(english:"Fedora 20 : perl-LWP-Protocol-https-6.04-4.fc20 (2014-6303)");
      script_summary(english:"Checks rpm output for the updated package.");
    
      script_set_attribute(
        attribute:"synopsis", 
        value:"The remote Fedora host is missing a security update."
      );
      script_set_attribute(
        attribute:"description", 
        value:
    "This release fixes a server certification validation when a
    certificate authority is defined by HTTPS_CA_DIR or HTTPS_CA_FILE
    environement variable.
    
    Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding
    description block directly from the Fedora security advisory. Tenable
    has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible
    without introducing additional issues."
      );
      script_set_attribute(
        attribute:"see_also",
        value:"https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1094440"
      );
      # https://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2014-May/133535.html
      script_set_attribute(
        attribute:"see_also",
        value:"http://www.nessus.org/u?0f0b2b99"
      );
      script_set_attribute(
        attribute:"solution", 
        value:"Update the affected perl-LWP-Protocol-https package."
      );
      script_set_cvss_base_vector("CVSS2#AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:N");
      script_set_cvss_temporal_vector("CVSS2#E:U/RL:OF/RC:C");
      script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploitability_ease", value:"No known exploits are available");
      script_set_attribute(attribute:"exploit_available", value:"false");
    
      script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_type", value:"local");
      script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"p-cpe:/a:fedoraproject:fedora:perl-LWP-Protocol-https");
      script_set_attribute(attribute:"cpe", value:"cpe:/o:fedoraproject:fedora:20");
    
      script_set_attribute(attribute:"patch_publication_date", value:"2014/05/13");
      script_set_attribute(attribute:"plugin_publication_date", value:"2014/05/22");
      script_end_attributes();
    
      script_category(ACT_GATHER_INFO);
      script_copyright(english:"This script is Copyright (C) 2014-2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.");
      script_family(english:"Fedora Local Security Checks");
    
      script_dependencies("ssh_get_info.nasl");
      script_require_keys("Host/local_checks_enabled", "Host/RedHat/release", "Host/RedHat/rpm-list");
    
      exit(0);
    }
    
    
    include("audit.inc");
    include("global_settings.inc");
    include("rpm.inc");
    
    if (!get_kb_item("Host/local_checks_enabled")) audit(AUDIT_LOCAL_CHECKS_NOT_ENABLED);
    release = get_kb_item("Host/RedHat/release");
    if (isnull(release) || "Fedora" >!< release) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "Fedora");
    os_ver = eregmatch(pattern: "Fedora.*release ([0-9]+)", string:release);
    if (isnull(os_ver)) audit(AUDIT_UNKNOWN_APP_VER, "Fedora");
    os_ver = os_ver[1];
    if (! ereg(pattern:"^20([^0-9]|$)", string:os_ver)) audit(AUDIT_OS_NOT, "Fedora 20.x", "Fedora " + os_ver);
    
    if (!get_kb_item("Host/RedHat/rpm-list")) audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_LIST_MISSING);
    
    cpu = get_kb_item("Host/cpu");
    if (isnull(cpu)) audit(AUDIT_UNKNOWN_ARCH);
    if ("x86_64" >!< cpu && cpu !~ "^i[3-6]86$") audit(AUDIT_LOCAL_CHECKS_NOT_IMPLEMENTED, "Fedora", cpu);
    
    flag = 0;
    if (rpm_check(release:"FC20", reference:"perl-LWP-Protocol-https-6.04-4.fc20")) flag++;
    
    
    if (flag)
    {
      if (report_verbosity > 0) security_warning(port:0, extra:rpm_report_get());
      else security_warning(0);
      exit(0);
    }
    else
    {
      tested = pkg_tests_get();
      if (tested) audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_NOT_AFFECTED, tested);
      else audit(AUDIT_PACKAGE_NOT_INSTALLED, "perl-LWP-Protocol-https");
    }
    
  • NASL familySuSE Local Security Checks
    NASL idOPENSUSE-2014-390.NASL
    descriptionperl-LWP-Protocol-https was updated to prevent a possible MITM if the environment variables HTTPS_CA_DIR or HTTPS_CA_FILE were set (CVE-2014-3230).
    last seen2020-06-05
    modified2014-06-13
    plugin id75370
    published2014-06-13
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2014-2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/75370
    titleopenSUSE Security Update : perl-LWP-Protocol-https (openSUSE-SU-2014:0710-1)
  • NASL familyFedora Local Security Checks
    NASL idFEDORA_2014-6369.NASL
    descriptionThis release fixes a server certification validation when a certificate authority is defined by HTTPS_CA_DIR or HTTPS_CA_FILE environement variable. Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Fedora security advisory. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues.
    last seen2020-03-17
    modified2014-05-25
    plugin id74169
    published2014-05-25
    reporterThis script is Copyright (C) 2014-2020 and is owned by Tenable, Inc. or an Affiliate thereof.
    sourcehttps://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/74169
    titleFedora 19 : perl-LWP-Protocol-https-6.04-2.fc19 (2014-6369)