CVE-2001-0081 in Ncipher
Summary
by MITRE
swinit in nCipher does not properly disable the Operator Card Set recovery feature even when explicitly disabled by the user, which could allow attackers to gain access to application keys.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/07/2019
The vulnerability described in CVE-2001-0081 affects the swinit component within nCipher security products, specifically targeting the improper handling of the Operator Card Set recovery feature. This flaw represents a critical security oversight in the cryptographic key management system where the software fails to respect user configuration settings regarding recovery mechanisms. The issue stems from the software's inability to properly enforce explicit user decisions to disable critical recovery features, creating a persistent security weakness that undermines the intended protection of application keys.
The technical implementation flaw resides in the swinit module's failure to validate or enforce the explicit disabling of the Operator Card Set recovery functionality. When system administrators or security personnel explicitly configure the system to disable this recovery feature, the software continues to maintain the capability for recovery operations, effectively bypassing the intended security controls. This represents a violation of proper access control mechanisms and configuration enforcement principles, where user-defined security parameters are not being honored by the underlying system implementation. The vulnerability can be categorized under CWE-693, which deals with Protection Mechanism Failure, specifically in the context of access control enforcement.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant as it allows unauthorized attackers to potentially gain access to application keys that should be protected through the disabling of recovery mechanisms. This creates an attack surface where malicious actors can exploit the persistent recovery capability to access sensitive cryptographic material that should remain protected. The vulnerability undermines the principle of least privilege and proper key management practices, as it allows recovery operations to occur even when explicitly disabled by authorized personnel. Attackers could leverage this weakness to bypass security controls designed to prevent unauthorized access to cryptographic keys, potentially leading to data compromise and system infiltration.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on immediate configuration reviews and system updates to ensure proper enforcement of user-defined security settings. Organizations should implement comprehensive security audits to verify that recovery mechanisms are properly disabled when intended, and should consider deploying additional monitoring controls to detect unauthorized recovery operations. The recommended approach includes applying vendor patches or updates that address the specific enforcement mechanism failure, implementing proper configuration management processes, and establishing regular security assessments to validate that security controls are functioning as intended. This vulnerability highlights the importance of proper input validation and configuration enforcement in cryptographic systems, aligning with ATT&CK technique T1552.001 for Unsecured Credentials and T1078.004 for Valid Accounts, where improper access control enforcement creates opportunities for unauthorized system access through bypass mechanisms.