# CVE-2011-4407: Security feature bypass in n/a

> Man-in-the-middle attackers can spoof GPG keys for package repositories by bypassing certificate validation in Software Properties, potentially leading to malicious code execution.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.3 (`AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 14 May 2014
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2011-4407, GHSA-m49h-wwcv-rf5m

## What is CVE-2011-4407?

CVE-2011-4407 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 14 May 2014. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

ppa.py in Software Properties before 0.81.13.3 does not validate the server certificate when downloading PPA GPG key fingerprints, which allows man-in-the-middle (MITM) attackers to spoof GPG keys for a package repository.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2011-4407?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Canonical Software-Properties, Canonical Ubuntu Linux.

## How do I fix CVE-2011-4407?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2011-4407 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2011-4407 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Canonical Ubuntu Linux

- [CVE-2012-0955](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-0955/): software-properties incorrectly validated TLS certificates (medium 6.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2011-4407 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2011-4407 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 14 May 2014. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2011-4407 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Canonical Ubuntu Linux. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-4407/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-4407/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2011-4407
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2011-4407
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2011-4407

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-4407/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.