CVE-2021-20305

Description

A flaw was found in Nettle, where several Nettle signature verification functions (GOST DSA, EDDSA & ECDSA) result in the Elliptic Curve Cryptography point (ECC) multiply function being called with out-of-range scalers, possibly resulting in incorrect results. This flaw allows an attacker to force an invalid signature, causing an assertion failure or possible validation. The highest threat to this vulnerability is to confidentiality, integrity, as well as system availability.

Statement

  • Although Red Hat OpenStack's dibbler package bundles nettle, it does not include the flawed functionality and is therefore unaffected.

Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details

Info alert:Important note

CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).

CVSS v3 Score Breakdown

Red HatNVDcve.org
Base Score8.18.1N/A
Attack VectorNetworkNetworkN/A
Attack ComplexityHighHighN/A
Privileges RequiredNoneNoneN/A
User InteractionNoneNoneN/A
ScopeUnchangedUnchangedN/A
ConfidentialityHighHighN/A
Integrity ImpactHighHighN/A
Availability ImpactHighHighN/A

Vector

Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

NVD: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Red Hat CVSS v3 Score Explanation

The Access Complexity is regarded as High by Red Hat : forging data and a signature that would avoid the assertion tests and be recognized as valid by the code has not been proven at the moment.

Understanding the Weakness (CWE)

Integrity

Technical Impact: Modify Memory; Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands

Write operations could cause memory corruption. In some cases, an adversary can modify control data such as return addresses in order to execute unexpected code.

Availability

Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart

Attempting to access out-of-range, invalid, or unauthorized memory could cause the product to crash.

Other

Technical Impact: Unexpected State

Subsequent write operations can produce undefined or unexpected results.

Acknowledgements

Red Hat would like to thank Niels Möller for reporting this issue.

Frequently Asked Questions

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