CVE-2012-3367 in Red Hat Certificate System
Summary
by MITRE
Red Hat Certificate System (RHCS) before 8.1.1 and Dogtag Certificate System does not properly check certificate revocation requests made through the web interface, which allows remote attackers with permissions to revoke end entity certificates to revoke the Certificate Authority (CA) certificate.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/26/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2012-3367 represents a critical authorization flaw within the Red Hat Certificate System and Dogtag Certificate System implementations. This weakness stems from insufficient validation mechanisms in the web interface's certificate revocation process, creating a privilege escalation scenario that directly compromises the security foundation of certificate management infrastructure. The vulnerability specifically affects versions prior to 8.1.1 of RHCS and the corresponding Dogtag Certificate System implementations, leaving numerous organizations exposed to potential certificate authority compromise.
The technical flaw manifests in the certificate revocation request handling mechanism where the system fails to properly validate the identity and permissions of users attempting to revoke certificates through the web interface. This validation failure occurs at the authorization layer, where the system should verify that only authorized entities can perform certificate revocation operations on specific certificate types. The vulnerability allows attackers with minimal permissions to revoke end entity certificates to exploit a logic flaw that permits them to target and revoke the root Certificate Authority certificate itself. This represents a fundamental breakdown in the certificate hierarchy security model where the system does not properly enforce certificate type-based access controls.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and potentially catastrophic for organizations relying on these certificate systems. An attacker who gains access to revoke end entity certificates can leverage this flaw to execute a complete certificate authority compromise, effectively undermining the entire public key infrastructure. This vulnerability directly maps to CWE-284, which describes improper access control in software systems, and can be categorized under ATT&CK technique T1556.200 for credential access through privilege escalation. The consequence of such an attack would be the complete loss of trust in the certificate authority, requiring extensive certificate reissuance and infrastructure rebuilding across affected organizations.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2012-3367 require immediate patching of affected systems to version 8.1.1 or later of the Red Hat Certificate System and Dogtag Certificate System. Organizations should also implement additional monitoring controls to detect unauthorized certificate revocation attempts and establish more robust access control policies for certificate management operations. Network segmentation and privileged access controls should be enforced to limit exposure of certificate management interfaces. The vulnerability highlights the importance of proper certificate hierarchy enforcement and demonstrates why certificate system administrators must implement comprehensive audit trails and access controls for all certificate management operations, particularly those involving certificate revocation processes.