# CVE-2012-0955: software-properties incorrectly validated TLS certificates

> Attackers can intercept traffic via man-in-the-middle attacks due to improper TLS certificate validation in Ubuntu's software-properties tool.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 2 Dec 2020
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2012-0955, GHSA-47v9-xw5c-g56f

## What is CVE-2012-0955?

CVE-2012-0955 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Canonical software-properties, published on 2 Dec 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

software-properties was vulnerable to a person-in-the-middle attack due to incorrect TLS certificate validation in softwareproperties/ppa.py. software-properties didn't check TLS certificates under python2 and only checked certificates under python3 if a valid certificate bundle was provided. Fixed in software-properties version 0.92.

Weakness: CWE-295 (Improper Certificate Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2012-0955?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Canonical Software-Properties.

## How do I fix CVE-2012-0955?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2012-0955 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2012-0955 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Canonical software-properties

- [CVE-2011-4407](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-4407/): Security feature bypass in n/a (medium 4.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2012-0955 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2012-0955 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Canonical software-properties, published on 2 Dec 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2012-0955 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Canonical software-properties. 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-2012-0955/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-0955/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2012-0955
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-0955
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2012-0955

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-0955/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.