# CVE-2014-3694: Security feature bypass in n/a

> Man-in-the-middle attackers can spoof SSL servers and obtain sensitive information due to improper X.509 certificate validation in Pidgin.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.4 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/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:** 29 Oct 2014
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2014-3694, GHSA-qfvv-4jjj-6cq2, UBUNTU-CVE-2014-3694

## What is CVE-2014-3694?

CVE-2014-3694 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 29 Oct 2014. 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

The (1) bundled GnuTLS SSL/TLS plugin and the (2) bundled OpenSSL SSL/TLS plugin in libpurple in Pidgin before 2.10.10 do not properly consider the Basic Constraints extension during verification of X.509 certificates from SSL servers, which allows man-in-the-middle attackers to spoof servers and obtain sensitive information via a crafted certificate.

Weakness: CWE-310

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2014-3694?

It affects 4 products.


Products: Canonical Ubuntu Linux, Debian Debian Linux, Opensuse Opensuse, Pidgin Pidgin.

## How do I fix CVE-2014-3694?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2014-3694 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2014-3694 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Canonical Ubuntu Linux

- [CVE-2020-11651](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-11651/): SaltStack Salt Authentication Bypass (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2020-7247](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7247/): OpenSMTPD Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2019-16928](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-16928/): Exim Out-of-bounds Write (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2018-6789](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-6789/): Exim Buffer Overflow (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2015-2590](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-2590/): Oracle Java SE and Java SE Embedded Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2014-3694 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2014-3694 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 29 Oct 2014. 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-2014-3694 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-2014-3694/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-3694/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2014-3694
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2014-3694
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2014-3694

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-3694/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.