CVE-2021-36992 in Huawei
Summary
by MITRE • 10/28/2021
There is a Public key verification vulnerability in Huawei Smartphone.Successful exploitation of this vulnerability may affect service confidentiality.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/01/2021
This vulnerability resides in Huawei smartphones and represents a critical flaw in public key verification mechanisms that forms the foundation of secure communications and authentication processes. The issue stems from improper validation of cryptographic signatures during the verification process, allowing attackers to potentially bypass authentication checks and access protected services. Such weaknesses in public key infrastructure directly impact the integrity and confidentiality of data transmission, as the system fails to properly authenticate legitimate entities. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-327, which addresses broken cryptographic algorithms and improper implementation of cryptographic functions, specifically targeting weaknesses in key verification procedures that undermine the security model.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability enables attackers to manipulate digital signatures and authentication tokens, potentially leading to unauthorized access to encrypted services and data. When smartphones fail to properly verify public keys, malicious actors can substitute their own keys or forge signatures to gain access to confidential information, services, or systems that should remain protected. This flaw particularly affects the secure boot process and application authentication mechanisms within the smartphone ecosystem, creating potential entry points for advanced persistent threats. The vulnerability operates at the cryptographic protocol level, where signature verification routines do not adequately validate the mathematical properties of public key signatures, allowing forged credentials to be accepted as legitimate.
From an operational standpoint, successful exploitation of this vulnerability compromises the fundamental security assurances that users expect from their mobile devices, particularly affecting enterprise environments where smartphones handle sensitive corporate data. The impact extends beyond individual privacy concerns to potential large-scale data breaches, as compromised devices can serve as footholds for broader network infiltration. Attackers leveraging this vulnerability can potentially decrypt communications, impersonate legitimate users, or access restricted services without proper authorization. This weakness significantly undermines the trust model that mobile operating systems rely upon for secure service delivery and user authentication, creating persistent risks for both personal and enterprise data protection.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including firmware updates from Huawei, enhanced network monitoring for anomalous authentication patterns, and additional security layers such as multi-factor authentication to reduce the attack surface. System administrators must conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments of mobile device management systems and ensure that cryptographic implementations follow established standards such as those defined by NIST SP 800-57 for key management and cryptographic algorithm validation. The remediation approach should include regular security audits of mobile device configurations, implementation of certificate pinning mechanisms, and deployment of intrusion detection systems specifically designed to identify signature forgery attempts. Additionally, security teams should consider the ATT&CK framework's mobile device threat models and implement defensive measures against techniques that exploit cryptographic weaknesses in mobile platforms, particularly focusing on the credential access and defense evasion tactics that leverage such verification flaws.