OpenPGP.js signature verification

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as problematic has been reported in OpenPGP.js. The affected element is an unknown function. The manipulation leads to signature verification. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2023-41037. The attack is possible to be carried out remotely. No exploit exists. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, has been found in OpenPGP.js (JavaScript Library) (the affected version is unknown). This issue affects an unknown code. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a signature verification vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-347. The product does not verify, or incorrectly verifies, the cryptographic signature for data. Impacted is integrity. The summary by CVE is:

OpenPGP.js is a JavaScript implementation of the OpenPGP protocol. In affected versions OpenPGP Cleartext Signed Messages are cryptographically signed messages where the signed text is readable without special tools. These messages typically contain a "Hash: ..." header declaring the hash algorithm used to compute the signature digest. OpenPGP.js up to v5.9.0 ignored any data preceding the "Hash: ..." texts when verifying the signature. As a result, malicious parties could add arbitrary text to a third-party Cleartext Signed Message, to lead the victim to believe that the arbitrary text was signed. A user or application is vulnerable to said attack vector if it verifies the CleartextMessage by only checking the returned `verified` property, discarding the associated `data` information, and instead _visually trusting_ the contents of the original message. Since `verificationResult.data` would always contain the actual signed data, users and apps that check this information are not vulnerable. Similarly, given a CleartextMessage object, retrieving the data using `getText()` or the `text` field returns only the contents that are considered when verifying the signature. Finally, re-armoring a CleartextMessage object (using `armor()` will also result in a "sanitised" version, with the extraneous text being removed. This issue has been addressed in version 5.10.1 (current stable version) which will reject messages when calling `openpgp.readCleartextMessage()` and in version 4.10.11 (legacy version) which will will reject messages when calling `openpgp.cleartext.readArmored()`. Users are advised to upgrade. Users unable to upgrade should check the contents of `verificationResult.data` to see what data was actually signed, rather than visually trusting the contents of the armored message.

The weakness was disclosed 08/29/2023 as GHSA-ch3c-v47x-4pgp. The advisory is shared at github.com. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2023-41037 since 08/22/2023. It demands that the victim is doing some kind of user interaction. Neither technical details nor an exploit are publicly available.

Upgrading eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 6b43e02a254853f5ff508ebd1b07541f78b7c566 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at github.com. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

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Productinfo

Type

• JavaScript Library

Name

• OpenPGP.js

License

• open-source

CPE 2.3info

• 🔍
• 🔍

CPE 2.2info

• 🔍
• 🔍

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If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

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