Gentoo Linux Advisory: FreeS/WAN, Openswan, strongSwan

Written By
Web Webster
Web Webster
Jun 28, 2004

Gentoo Linux Security Advisory GLSA 200406-20


http://security.gentoo.org/


Severity: Normal
Title: FreeS/WAN, Openswan, strongSwan: Vulnerabilities in
certificate handling
Date: June 25, 2004
ID: 200406-20


Synopsis

FreeS/WAN, Openswan, strongSwan and Super-FreeS/WAN contain two
bugs when authenticating PKCS#7 certificates. This could allow an
attacker to authenticate with a fake certificate.

Background

FreeS/WAN, Openswan, strongSwan and Super-FreeS/WAN are Open
Source implementations of IPsec for the Linux operating system.
They are all based on the discontinued FreeS/WAN project.

Affected packages

Package Vulnerable Unaffected
1 net-misc/freeswan < 2.04-r1 >= 2.04-r1
2 net-misc/openswan < 2.1.4 >= 2.1.4
3 net-misc/strongswan < 2.1.3 >= 2.1.3
4 net-misc/super-freeswan <= 1.99.7.3 Vulnerable!

Description

All these IPsec implementations have several bugs in the
verify_x509cert() function, which performs certificate validation,
that make them vulnerable to malicious PKCS#7 wrapped objects.

Impact

With a carefully crafted certificate payload an attacker can
successfully authenticate against FreeS/WAN, Openswan, strongSwan
or Super-FreeS/WAN, or make the daemon go into an endless loop.

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Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time. All users are
encouraged to upgrade to the latest available version.

Resolution

All FreeS/WAN 1.9x users should upgrade to the latest stable
version:

    # emerge sync
    # emerge -pv "=net-misc/freeswan-1.99-r1"
    # emerge "=net-misc/freeswan-1.99-r1"

All FreeS/WAN 2.x users should upgrade to the latest stable
version:

    # emerge sync
    # emerge -pv ">=net-misc/freeswan-2.04-r1"
    # emerge ">=net-misc/freeswan-2.04-r1"

All Openswan 1.x users should upgrade to the latest stable
version:

    # emerge sync
    # emerge -pv "=net-misc/openswan-1.0.6_rc1"
    # emerge "=net-misc/openswan-1.0.6_rc1"

All Openswan 2.x users should upgrade to the latest stable
version:

    # emerge sync
    # emerge -pv ">=net-misc/openswan-2.1.4"
    # emerge ">=net-misc/openswan-2.1.4"

All strongSwan users should upgrade to the latest stable
version:

    # emerge sync
    # emerge -pv ">=net-misc/strongswan-2.1.3"
    # emerge ">=net-misc/strongswan-2.1.3"

All Super-FreeS/WAN users should migrate to the latest stable
version of Openswan. Note that Portage will force a move for
Super-FreeS/WAN users to Openswan.

    # emerge sync
    # emerge -pv "=net-misc/openswan-1.0.6_rc1"
    # emerge "=net-misc/openswan-1.0.6_rc1"

References

[ 1 ] Openswan/strongSwan Authentication Bug

http://lists.openswan.org/pipermail/dev/2004-June/000370.html

Availability

This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at the
Gentoo Security Website:

http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200406-20.xml

Concerns?

Security is a primary focus of Gentoo Linux and ensuring the
confidentiality and security of our users machines is of utmost
importance to us. Any security concerns should be addressed to
security@gentoo.org or
alternatively, you may file a bug at http://bugs.gentoo.org.

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License

Copyright 2004 Gentoo Technologies, Inc; referenced text belongs
to its owner(s).

The contents of this document are licensed under the Creative
Commons – Attribution / Share Alike license.

Web Webster

Web Webster

Web Webster has more than 20 years of writing and editorial experience in the tech sector. He’s written and edited news, demand generation, user-focused, and thought leadership content for business software solutions, consumer tech, and Linux Today, he edits and writes for a portfolio of tech industry news and analysis websites including webopedia.com, and DatabaseJournal.com.

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