CVE-2014-2902 in wolfSSL
Summary
by MITRE
wolfssl before 3.2.0 does not properly authorize CA certificate for signing other certificates.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/26/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-2902 affects wolfSSL versions prior to 3.2.0 and represents a critical flaw in certificate authority validation mechanisms. This issue stems from insufficient authorization checks during the certificate signing process, specifically within the certificate authority certificate validation subsystem. The flaw allows for potential certificate forgery attacks where an attacker could manipulate the certificate authority validation process to improperly sign certificates, undermining the fundamental trust model that certificate authorities provide in public key infrastructure implementations.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability lies in the improper validation of certificate authority certificates before they are authorized to sign other certificates. In wolfSSL versions before 3.2.0, the library failed to adequately verify that a certificate authority certificate possessed the proper authorization and permissions to perform certificate signing operations. This weakness creates a path for malicious actors to exploit the certificate validation process and potentially generate certificates that appear to be issued by legitimate certificate authorities, thereby enabling man-in-the-middle attacks and credential impersonation scenarios.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends across multiple security domains particularly affecting systems that rely on wolfSSL for secure communications and certificate validation. Organizations implementing wolfSSL versions prior to 3.2.0 face significant risks including compromised SSL/TLS connections, unauthorized certificate issuance, and potential data breaches. The vulnerability directly impacts the integrity and authenticity guarantees that certificate authorities are meant to provide, making it possible for attackers to establish fraudulent secure connections that would otherwise be detected by proper certificate validation mechanisms. This flaw particularly affects embedded systems and applications where wolfSSL is commonly deployed due to its lightweight nature and widespread adoption in IoT and embedded device security implementations.
This vulnerability aligns with CWE-290 authentication bypass weakness and corresponds to ATT&CK technique T1553.004 related to credential manipulation and certificate manipulation. The improper authorization of certificate authority certificates creates an authentication bypass opportunity that allows attackers to circumvent normal certificate validation procedures and establish trust relationships with malicious certificates. Organizations should prioritize updating to wolfSSL 3.2.0 or later versions to address this vulnerability, as the fix includes enhanced certificate authority validation checks and proper authorization verification mechanisms. Additional mitigations may include implementing certificate pinning strategies, monitoring for unauthorized certificate issuance, and conducting comprehensive security assessments of systems utilizing vulnerable wolfSSL versions to identify potential exploitation attempts.