CVE-2010-3170 in Firefox
Summary
by MITRE
Mozilla Firefox before 3.5.14 and 3.6.x before 3.6.11, Thunderbird before 3.0.9 and 3.1.x before 3.1.5, and SeaMonkey before 2.0.9 recognize a wildcard IP address in the subject s Common Name field of an X.509 certificate, which might allow man-in-the-middle attackers to spoof arbitrary SSL servers via a crafted certificate issued by a legitimate Certification Authority.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/27/2021
This vulnerability resides in the SSL/TLS certificate validation mechanism of Mozilla Firefox and related products, specifically affecting versions prior to the mentioned patches. The flaw manifests when the software encounters X.509 certificates containing wildcard IP addresses within the subject's Common Name field, creating a significant security gap that enables attackers to perform man-in-the-middle attacks by crafting malicious certificates. The vulnerability stems from improper certificate validation logic that fails to properly enforce the restrictions typically applied to wildcard certificates, particularly when they reference IP addresses rather than domain names. This weakness allows an attacker with access to a legitimate certificate authority's credentials to generate certificates that appear valid to the affected browsers, thereby bypassing critical security controls designed to prevent certificate forgery.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the certificate validation process where the software does not adequately verify that wildcard IP addresses in the Common Name field comply with standard certificate validation rules. According to the CWE catalog, this represents a weakness in certificate validation (CWE-295) where insufficient validation of X.509 certificates allows for improper trust establishment. The vulnerability specifically targets the validation of IP address wildcards within certificate subject fields, which should normally be restricted to prevent such spoofing scenarios. This flaw operates at the application layer within the SSL/TLS stack, where certificate verification occurs before establishing secure connections, making it particularly dangerous as it can be exploited during any HTTPS or SSL connection establishment process.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple certificate validation failures and creates a pathway for sophisticated man-in-the-middle attacks that can compromise the integrity of encrypted communications. Attackers can exploit this weakness by obtaining a legitimate certificate from a compromised authority and then crafting a certificate with a wildcard IP address in the Common Name field, enabling them to intercept and manipulate traffic intended for legitimate servers. This vulnerability aligns with several ATT&CK techniques including T1573.002 (SSL/TLS MitM) and T1071.004 (Application Layer Protocol: DNS) as it enables attackers to establish fraudulent SSL connections that appear legitimate to the victim's browser. The potential for widespread exploitation exists since the vulnerability affects multiple Mozilla products including Firefox, Thunderbird, and SeaMonkey across their respective version ranges, creating a substantial attack surface that could impact numerous users and organizations relying on these applications for secure communications.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate patching of affected software versions to ensure proper certificate validation is enforced. Organizations should prioritize updating to the patched versions of Firefox 3.5.14, Firefox 3.6.11, Thunderbird 3.0.9, Thunderbird 3.1.5, and SeaMonkey 2.0.9, as these releases contain the necessary fixes to properly validate wildcard IP addresses in certificate subject fields. Additionally, system administrators should implement certificate pinning where possible to add an extra layer of protection against certificate spoofing attacks. The fix typically involves modifying the certificate validation logic to ensure that wildcard IP addresses are properly validated against the actual IP addresses being connected to, rather than allowing arbitrary wildcard patterns to be accepted. This vulnerability also underscores the importance of maintaining up-to-date security practices and regular software updates as part of comprehensive cybersecurity defense strategies, as it demonstrates how seemingly minor certificate validation flaws can create significant security risks in widely used applications.