CVE-2013-0264 in cumin
Summary
by MITRE
An import error was introduced in Cumin in the code refactoring in r5310. Server certificate validation is always disabled when connecting to Aviary servers, even if the installed packages on a system support it.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/18/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2013-0264 represents a critical security flaw in the Cumin software library that fundamentally undermines the integrity of secure communications between client and server components. This issue emerged during a code refactoring process in revision r5310 where an import error was inadvertently introduced, creating a dangerous condition that disables server certificate validation. The flaw specifically affects systems that have proper SSL/TLS certificate validation capabilities installed, yet the software actively ignores these security features, leaving communications vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks and other cryptographic threats.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from a failure in the import mechanism that governs how certificate validation is handled during network connections to Aviary servers. When the code was refactored, the import statements were incorrectly configured or omitted entirely, causing the system to bypass certificate verification entirely regardless of the underlying infrastructure capabilities. This error creates a situation where even if a system has properly configured SSL certificates and certificate validation libraries available, the application will deliberately disable these security measures during connection establishment. The flaw operates at the transport layer security level, affecting the fundamental trust mechanism that should validate server identities before establishing secure connections.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and multifaceted, as it effectively nullifies the security benefits of TLS/SSL encryption between Cumin clients and Aviary servers. Attackers can exploit this weakness to perform certificate pinning bypasses, intercept communications, and potentially gain unauthorized access to sensitive data or systems. The vulnerability particularly affects environments where security compliance is paramount, as it creates a persistent backdoor that allows attackers to establish trusted connections with malicious servers while maintaining the appearance of legitimate communication. Organizations relying on Cumin for infrastructure management face significant risk of credential theft, data exfiltration, and system compromise through this certificate validation bypass.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2013-0264 must address both immediate remediation and long-term architectural improvements to prevent similar issues in future releases. The primary fix involves correcting the import statements in the codebase to properly reference and utilize the certificate validation libraries that are already present on the system. This remediation should include thorough testing to ensure that certificate validation is properly re-enabled and that the system correctly validates server certificates during connection establishment. Organizations should also implement monitoring solutions to detect potential certificate validation bypass attempts and establish regular security audits of their code refactoring processes to prevent similar import errors from being introduced. Additionally, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-295, which addresses improper certificate validation, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1046 for network service discovery and T1566 for credential harvesting through network attacks, emphasizing the need for comprehensive security controls beyond just code fixes.
The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining security controls during software evolution and refactoring processes. Code quality assurance should include explicit verification of security-related import statements and dependency configurations to prevent accidental disabling of security features. Organizations should implement automated security testing that specifically validates certificate validation behavior and establish security gates that prevent deployment of code changes that could compromise cryptographic security measures. This incident underscores the necessity of treating security as an integral part of the development lifecycle rather than an afterthought, particularly when dealing with network communication components that rely on established trust mechanisms.