gnu gnutls up to 1.0.16 lib/x509/verify.c _gnutls_x509_verify_certificate credentials management

CVSS Meta Temp Score CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.	Current Exploit Price (≈) Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.	CTI Interest Score Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
4.8	$0-$5k	0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as critical has been reported in gnu gnutls up to 1.0.16. Affected by this vulnerability is the function _gnutls_x509_verify_certificate in the library lib/x509/verify.c. Performing a manipulation results in credentials management. This vulnerability is cataloged as CVE-2008-4989. There is no exploit available. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in gnu gnutls up to 1.0.16 (Network Encryption Software). It has been classified as critical. This affects the function _gnutls_x509_verify_certificate in the library lib/x509/verify.c. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a credentials management vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-255. This is going to have an impact on integrity. The summary by CVE is:

The _gnutls_x509_verify_certificate function in lib/x509/verify.c in libgnutls in GnuTLS before 2.6.1 trusts certificate chains in which the last certificate is an arbitrary trusted, self-signed certificate, which allows man-in-the-middle attackers to insert a spoofed certificate for any Distinguished Name (DN).

The bug was discovered 11/10/2008. The weakness was shared 11/12/2008 by Martin (Website). It is possible to read the advisory at securityfocus.com. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2008-4989 since 11/06/2008. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. No form of authentication is needed for exploitation. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The attack technique deployed by this issue is T1552 according to MITRE ATT&CK.

It is declared as proof-of-concept. The vulnerability was handled as a non-public zero-day exploit for at least 1 days. During that time the estimated underground price was around $0-$5k. The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 67768 (Oracle Linux 5 : gnutls (ELSA-2008-0982)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment. It is assigned to the family Oracle Linux Local Security Checks and running in the context l. The commercial vulnerability scanner Qualys is able to test this issue with plugin 117216 (CentOS Security Update for GnuTLS (CESA-2008:0982)).

Upgrading to version 1.0.17 eliminates this vulnerability. A possible mitigation has been published even before and not after the disclosure of the vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at X-Force (46614), Tenable (67768), SecurityFocus (BID 32232†), OSVDB (49851†) and Secunia (SA35423†). The entry VDB-43587 is related to this item. Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

• Network Encryption Software

Vendor

• gnu

Name

• gnutls

Version

• 1.0.0
• 1.0.1
• 1.0.2
• 1.0.3
• 1.0.4
• 1.0.5
• 1.0.6
• 1.0.7
• 1.0.8
• 1.0.9
• 1.0.10
• 1.0.11
• 1.0.12
• 1.0.13
• 1.0.14
• 1.0.15
• 1.0.16

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.gnu.org/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔍
• 🔍
• 🔍

CPE 2.2info

• 🔍
• 🔍
• 🔍

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 5.3
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 4.8

VulDB Base Score: 5.3
VulDB Temp Score: 4.8
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳

Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔍
VulDB Temp Score: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Credentials management
CWE: CWE-255
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔍
Status: Proof-of-Concept

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Today	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

Nessus ID: 67768
Nessus Name: Oracle Linux 5 : gnutls (ELSA-2008-0982)
Nessus File: 🔍
Nessus Risk: 🔍
Nessus Family: 🔍
Nessus Context: 🔍
Nessus Port: 🔍

OpenVAS ID: 63392
OpenVAS Name: Debian Security Advisory DSA 1719-1 (gnutls13)
OpenVAS File: 🔍
OpenVAS Family: 🔍

Qualys ID: 🔍
Qualys Name: 🔍

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔍

Upgrade: gnutls 1.0.17

Timelineinfo

11/06/2008 🔍
11/10/2008 +4 days 🔍
11/10/2008 +0 days 🔍
11/11/2008 +1 days 🔍
11/11/2008 +0 days 🔍
11/12/2008 +1 days 🔍
11/12/2008 +0 days 🔍
11/12/2008 +0 days 🔍
11/17/2008 +5 days 🔍
06/11/2009 +206 days 🔍
07/12/2013 +1492 days 🔍
03/17/2015 +613 days 🔍
05/25/2025 +3722 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: gnu.org

Advisory: securityfocus.com⛔
Researcher: Martin
Status: Confirmed
Confirmation: 🔍

CVE: CVE-2008-4989 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2008-4989
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-44979

OVAL: 🔍

X-Force: 46614
SecurityFocus: 32232 - GnuTLS X.509 Certificate Chain Security Bypass Vulnerability
Secunia: 35423 - Sun Solaris GnuTLS X.509 Certificate Chain Validation Vulnerability, Moderately Critical
OSVDB: 49851 - CVE-2008-4989 - Gnu - Spoofing Issue
SecurityTracker: 1021167
Vulnerability Center: 20014 - GnuTLS < 2.6.1 X.509 Certificate Validation Spoofing Vulnerability, Medium
Vupen: ADV-2008-3086

See also: 🔍

Entryinfo

Created: 03/17/2015 16:11
Updated: 05/25/2025 05:38
Changes: 03/17/2015 16:11 (87), 08/20/2019 18:13 (4), 05/25/2025 05:38 (18)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Discussion

Do you want to use VulDB in your project?

Use the official API to access entries easily!