GLSA 200901-10: GnuTLS: Certificate validation error

http://security.gentoo.org/

Severity:	normal
Title:	GnuTLS: Certificate validation error
Date:	01/14/2009
Bugs:	#245850
ID:	200901-10

Synopsis

A certificate validation error in GnuTLS might allow for spoofing attacks.

Background

GnuTLS is an open-source implementation of TLS 1.0 and SSL 3.0.

Affected packages

Package	Vulnerable	Unaffected	Architecture(s)
net-libs/gnutls	< 2.4.1-r2	>= 2.4.1-r2	All supported architectures

Description

Martin von Gagern reported that the _gnutls_x509_verify_certificate() function in lib/x509/verify.c trusts certificate chains in which the last certificate is an arbitrary trusted, self-signed certificate.

Impact

A remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability and spoof arbitrary names to conduct Man-In-The-Middle attacks and intercept sensitive information.

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

All GnuTLS users should upgrade to the latest version:

    # emerge --sync
    # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=net-libs/gnutls-2.4.1-r2"

References

CVE-2008-4989

Availability

This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at the Gentoo Security Website: http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200901-10.xml

Concerns?

Security is a primary focus of Gentoo Linux and ensuring the confidentiality and security of our users machines is of utmost importance to us. Any security concerns should be addressed to security@gentoo.org or alternatively, you may file a bug at https://bugs.gentoo.org.