CVE-2014-1568 in iPlanet Web Server
Summary
by MITRE
Mozilla Network Security Services (NSS) before 3.16.2.1, 3.16.x before 3.16.5, and 3.17.x before 3.17.1, as used in Mozilla Firefox before 32.0.3, Mozilla Firefox ESR 24.x before 24.8.1 and 31.x before 31.1.1, Mozilla Thunderbird before 24.8.1 and 31.x before 31.1.2, Mozilla SeaMonkey before 2.29.1, Google Chrome before 37.0.2062.124 on Windows and OS X, and Google Chrome OS before 37.0.2062.120, does not properly parse ASN.1 values in X.509 certificates, which makes it easier for remote attackers to spoof RSA signatures via a crafted certificate, aka a "signature malleability" issue.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/05/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-1568 represents a critical flaw in Mozilla Network Security Services (NSS) cryptographic library that affects multiple Mozilla products and Google Chrome implementations. This issue stems from improper parsing of ASN.1 values within X.509 certificates, creating a signature malleability condition that undermines the security guarantees of public key infrastructure. The vulnerability specifically impacts NSS versions prior to 3.16.2.1, 3.16.x versions before 3.16.5, and 3.17.x versions before 3.17.1, affecting a wide range of applications including Firefox, Thunderbird, SeaMonkey, and Chrome browsers across multiple operating systems. The flaw allows remote attackers to manipulate certificate signatures in a way that could potentially enable man-in-the-middle attacks or certificate spoofing scenarios.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability lies in the ASN.1 (Abstract Syntax Notation One) parsing implementation within NSS, which is responsible for decoding the binary representation of X.509 certificates used in SSL/TLS communications. When processing RSA signatures embedded within certificates, the library fails to properly validate the ASN.1 encoding structure, allowing malformed or specially crafted certificate data to bypass signature verification checks. This signature malleability issue specifically affects how the system interprets and validates the signature algorithm parameters and the actual signature value itself. The vulnerability falls under CWE-248, which addresses "Uncaught Exception" in software implementations, and more specifically relates to improper handling of cryptographic signature validation. This weakness creates a path where attackers can craft certificates with manipulated ASN.1 structures that appear valid to the NSS parser while containing modified signature values that still pass verification checks.
The operational impact of CVE-2014-1568 is significant as it directly undermines the trust model of public key cryptography and certificate-based authentication systems. Remote attackers can exploit this vulnerability to create forged certificates that appear legitimate to affected systems, potentially enabling them to intercept and modify encrypted communications between clients and servers. The attack scenario typically involves an attacker crafting a malicious certificate with manipulated ASN.1 values that will be accepted by vulnerable systems while maintaining the appearance of a valid certificate. This could lead to complete compromise of secure communications, credential theft, data interception, and unauthorized access to protected resources. The vulnerability affects both client and server certificate validation processes, making it particularly dangerous in environments where certificate pinning or strict validation policies are not implemented. Organizations using affected versions of these browsers and applications face potential exposure to active attacks where attackers can establish fraudulent secure connections that appear legitimate to end users.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2014-1568 primarily focus on immediate software updates and patches to the affected NSS library versions. System administrators should prioritize updating all affected Mozilla products including Firefox, Thunderbird, SeaMonkey, and Google Chrome to their patched versions. The vulnerability affects multiple product lines across different platforms, requiring comprehensive patch management across all affected systems. Organizations should also consider implementing additional security controls such as certificate pinning, strict certificate validation policies, and monitoring for suspicious certificate usage patterns. Network security teams should deploy intrusion detection systems capable of identifying anomalous certificate validation behavior and monitor for potential exploitation attempts. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving credential access through certificate manipulation and secure communication channel interception. Regular security assessments should verify that all systems have been properly patched and that no legacy versions remain in production environments, as the vulnerability affects not just end-user browsers but also server-side implementations that rely on NSS for cryptographic operations.