CVE-2022-21672 : Vulnerability Insights and Analysis

make-ca is a utility tool that manages a complete PKI configuration for workstations and servers. Unfortunately, versions ranging from 0.9 to before 1.10 of make-ca have a vulnerability that misinterprets Mozilla certdata.txt, treating explicitly untrusted certificates as trusted. This flaw could allow hostile attackers to perform a Man-in-the-Middle (MIM) attack by exploiting these certificates. To address this issue, users should upgrade to version 1.10 or higher of make-ca and regenerate the trusted store immediately by running

make-ca -f -g

as the root user. Manual removal of untrusted certificates as a workaround is discouraged due to potential overwrite during subsequent updates.

Understanding CVE-2022-21672

This section provides insights into the details and impact of the CVE-2022-21672 vulnerability.

What is CVE-2022-21672?

CVE-2022-21672 refers to a vulnerability in make-ca where versions from 0.9 to before 1.10 misinterpret Mozilla certdata.txt, causing explicitly untrusted certificates to be seen as trusted, potentially leading to a security breach.

The Impact of CVE-2022-21672

The impact is rated as MEDIUM with a base score of 6.5. This vulnerability has a low attack complexity and requires low privileges but can result in high integrity impact if exploited. Attackers could leverage this flaw for unauthorized access.

Technical Details of CVE-2022-21672

In this section, we dig deeper into the technical aspects of the CVE-2022-21672 vulnerability.

Vulnerability Description

The flaw in make-ca allows explicitly untrusted certificates to be treated as trusted, creating a security loophole that attackers could exploit for Man-in-the-Middle attacks.

Affected Systems and Versions

Users of make-ca versions starting from 0.9 up to 1.10 are affected by this vulnerability and should take immediate action to secure their systems.

Exploitation Mechanism

Hostile actors with network access could potentially intercept communications by exploiting the misinterpretation of untrusted certificates as trusted ones.

Mitigation and Prevention

This section outlines the necessary steps to mitigate the risks associated with CVE-2022-21672.

Immediate Steps to Take

Users are advised to upgrade to make-ca version 1.10 or higher and regenerate the trusted store by running

make-ca -f -g

as the root user to address the vulnerability.

Long-Term Security Practices

In the long term, users should follow best security practices, including regular updates and monitoring of trusted certificates to prevent similar vulnerabilities.

Patching and Updates

Regularly updating make-ca and other related security tools is crucial to ensure that systems are protected against known vulnerabilities and potential exploits.