CVE-2008-7017 in CAcert
Summary
by MITRE
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in analyse.php in CAcert 20080921, and possibly other versions before 20080928, allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via the CN (CommonName) field in the subject of an X.509 certificate.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/11/2025
The CVE-2008-7017 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw in the CAcert certificate authority software, specifically within the analyse.php component of the 20080921 release and potentially affecting earlier versions up to 20080928. This vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and sanitization of X.509 certificate data, particularly the CommonName field within certificate subjects. The flaw occurs when the system processes and displays certificate information without properly escaping or filtering user-supplied certificate data, creating an avenue for malicious actors to inject arbitrary web scripts or HTML content into the application's output.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability leverages the inherent structure of X.509 certificates where the CommonName field serves as a critical identifier for certificate subjects. When the CAcert system processes certificates containing malicious payloads in their CommonName fields, the application fails to properly sanitize this input before rendering it in web pages. This processing occurs during certificate analysis operations where the system displays certificate details to users, making the vulnerability exploitable through crafted certificate submissions. The flaw aligns with CWE-79, which categorizes cross-site scripting vulnerabilities as a result of insufficient input validation and output encoding, specifically in the context of web application security.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script injection, as it provides attackers with the capability to execute malicious code within the context of authenticated users' browsers. This could enable session hijacking, credential theft, or the delivery of additional malware to victims who view compromised certificate information. The vulnerability affects the core trust model of the certificate authority system, potentially undermining user confidence in certificate validation processes and creating a vector for more sophisticated attacks. Attackers could craft malicious certificates with specially formatted CommonName fields that, when analyzed by the vulnerable system, would execute malicious scripts against users who view the certificate details.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2008-7017 should focus on implementing robust input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the certificate analysis functionality. The most effective immediate solution involves proper HTML escaping of all certificate field data before display, particularly the CommonName field and other subject components. Organizations should also implement comprehensive input sanitization that validates certificate data against known safe character sets and lengths. Additionally, the vulnerability highlights the importance of keeping certificate authority systems updated, as CAcert released version 20080928 to address this specific flaw. Security practitioners should consider implementing Content Security Policy headers and regular security audits of certificate processing components to prevent similar vulnerabilities in other certificate management systems. This vulnerability also aligns with ATT&CK technique T1588.001, which involves the use of malicious certificates for credential theft and privilege escalation in enterprise environments.