CVE-2022-24884
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability in ecdsautils allows attackers to forge ECDSA signatures by providing zero-value signatures that are always considered valid. This affects all systems using ecdsautils versions before 0.4.1 for cryptographic verification, potentially enabling authentication bypass, data tampering, or unauthorized access.
💻 Affected Systems
- ecdsautils
📦 What is this software?
Ecdsautils by Ecdsautils Project
Fedora by Fedoraproject
Fedora by Fedoraproject
Fedora by Fedoraproject
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete compromise of systems relying on ECDSA signatures for authentication or integrity verification, allowing attackers to impersonate any user, sign malicious code, or bypass security controls.
Likely Case
Authentication bypass in systems using eCDSA signatures for verification, potentially leading to unauthorized access to sensitive systems or data.
If Mitigated
Limited impact if systems have additional authentication layers or don't rely solely on ECDSA signatures for critical operations.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation is trivial - simply provide a signature with zero values for r and s parameters. The advisory includes technical details that could be used to create exploits.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 0.4.1
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/freifunk-gluon/ecdsautils/security/advisories/GHSA-qhcg-9ffp-78pw
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Update ecdsautils to version 0.4.1 or later. 2. For Debian systems: apt-get update && apt-get install ecdsautils. 3. For Fedora: dnf update ecdsautils. 4. For source installations: git clone and build from patched repository.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Signature validation wrapper
allImplement custom signature validation that checks for zero values before calling ecdsautils functions
# Custom validation logic example:
# if signature.r == 0 or signature.s == 0:
# return INVALID_SIGNATURE
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Discontinue use of ecdsautils for critical signature verification operations
- Implement additional authentication/authorization layers that don't rely on ECDSA signatures
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check ecdsautils version: ecdsautil --version. If version is < 0.4.1, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
ecdsautil --versionVerify Fix Applied:
After update, verify version is ≥ 0.4.1 and test signature verification with zero-value signatures (should fail).📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Multiple successful signature verifications with unusual patterns
- Authentication attempts with zero-value signatures
Network Indicators:
- Traffic patterns showing signature verification bypass
SIEM Query:
Search for authentication/signature verification events where signature values are zero or verification occurs without proper cryptographic validation🔗 References
- https://github.com/freifunk-gluon/ecdsautils/commit/1d4b091abdf15ad7b2312535b5b95ad70f6dbd08
- https://github.com/freifunk-gluon/ecdsautils/commit/39b6d0a77414fd41614953a0e185c4eefa2f88ad
- https://github.com/freifunk-gluon/ecdsautils/security/advisories/GHSA-qhcg-9ffp-78pw
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2022/05/msg00007.html
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/4AKQH5WCBMJA3ODCSNERY6HVX4BX3ITG/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/G2JT57AAFIEL7JDO2ZBV25JKYME5NU54/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/L7UBR3M4U3LA46BHXYSH7EN5GDG44GK7/
- https://www.debian.org/security/2022/dsa-5132
- https://github.com/freifunk-gluon/ecdsautils/commit/1d4b091abdf15ad7b2312535b5b95ad70f6dbd08
- https://github.com/freifunk-gluon/ecdsautils/commit/39b6d0a77414fd41614953a0e185c4eefa2f88ad
- https://github.com/freifunk-gluon/ecdsautils/security/advisories/GHSA-qhcg-9ffp-78pw
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2022/05/msg00007.html
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/4AKQH5WCBMJA3ODCSNERY6HVX4BX3ITG/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/G2JT57AAFIEL7JDO2ZBV25JKYME5NU54/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/L7UBR3M4U3LA46BHXYSH7EN5GDG44GK7/
- https://www.debian.org/security/2022/dsa-5132
