CVE-2010-3869 in Certificate System
Summary
by MITRE
Red Hat Certificate System (RHCS) 7.3 and 8 and Dogtag Certificate System allow remote authenticated users to generate an arbitrary number of certificates by replaying a single SCEP one-time PIN.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/05/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2010-3869 affects Red Hat Certificate System versions 7.3 and 8 as well as the Dogtag Certificate System, representing a significant security flaw in certificate management infrastructure. This issue stems from improper validation of authentication tokens within the SCEP (Simple Certificate Enrollment Protocol) implementation, which is commonly used for automated certificate provisioning in enterprise environments. The flaw allows authenticated attackers to exploit a weakness in the one-time PIN mechanism that should normally prevent unauthorized certificate issuance.
The technical exploitation occurs through a replay attack pattern where an authenticated user can reuse a single SCEP one-time PIN multiple times to generate unlimited certificates. This represents a fundamental breakdown in the authentication and authorization controls that should enforce unique token usage for each certificate request. The vulnerability specifically targets the certificate enrollment process where the system fails to properly track or invalidate PIN usage after initial validation, creating a persistent authentication bypass that undermines the entire certificate issuance workflow. This type of flaw falls under CWE-310, which addresses cryptographic weaknesses related to authentication mechanisms and token management.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple certificate abuse, as it enables attackers to potentially overwhelm certificate authorities with excessive certificate requests, consume system resources, and potentially facilitate credential theft or impersonation attacks. Organizations relying on these certificate systems for secure communications, code signing, or identity management face significant risks when this vulnerability is exploited. The ability to generate unlimited certificates with a single valid PIN essentially removes the security boundary that should protect certificate issuance processes, potentially allowing attackers to establish persistent access to systems through fraudulent certificates. This vulnerability directly impacts the integrity and availability of certificate authority services, as legitimate certificate requests may be delayed or blocked due to resource exhaustion from malicious certificate generation.
Mitigation strategies should focus on implementing proper session management and token validation controls within the certificate system. Organizations should ensure that one-time PINs are immediately invalidated after first use and that the system maintains proper audit trails of all certificate issuance activities. The implementation of rate limiting mechanisms and enhanced monitoring for unusual certificate generation patterns can help detect exploitation attempts. Additionally, system administrators should consider implementing multi-factor authentication for certificate enrollment processes and regularly review certificate issuance logs for suspicious activities. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1556.002 which covers credential injection and T1556.004 related to credential access through authentication bypass mechanisms, highlighting the need for comprehensive security controls beyond simple patch management to prevent unauthorized certificate issuance and maintain the trust model of certificate-based security infrastructures.