CVE-2021-20179 Business logic in pki-core

High 8.1 Published 15 Mar 2021 Updated 3 Aug 2024

Attackers with compromised keys can repeatedly renew certificates, threatening data confidentiality and integrity in PKI systems.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Any signed-in user
Attackable: Over the internet
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: Available

What is CVE-2021-20179?

CVE-2021-20179 is a high-severity vulnerability in Fedoraproject Fedora, published on 15 Mar 2021. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

A flaw was found in pki-core. An attacker who has successfully compromised a key could use this flaw to renew the corresponding certificate over and over again, as long as it is not explicitly revoked. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity.

Weakness: CWE-863

Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-20179?

It affects 4 products.

Linux distribution packages (21)

`jss` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:4.7.3-1.module+el8.3.0+8058+d5cd4219`
`jss-debuginfo` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:4.7.3-1.module+el8.3.0+8058+d5cd4219`
`jss-debugsource` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:4.7.3-1.module+el8.3.0+8058+d5cd4219`
`jss-javadoc` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:4.7.3-1.module+el8.3.0+8058+d5cd4219`
`ldapjdk` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:4.22.0-1.module+el8.3.0+6784+6e1e4c62`
`ldapjdk-javadoc` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:4.22.0-1.module+el8.3.0+6784+6e1e4c62`
`pki-base` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.9.4-3.module+el8.3.0+10353+73f6df5b`
`pki-base-java` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.9.4-3.module+el8.3.0+10353+73f6df5b`
`pki-ca` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.9.4-3.module+el8.3.0+10353+73f6df5b`
`pki-core` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.9.4-3.module+el8.3.0+10353+73f6df5b`
`pki-core-debuginfo` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.9.4-3.module+el8.3.0+10353+73f6df5b`
`pki-core-debugsource` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.9.4-3.module+el8.3.0+10353+73f6df5b`
`pki-kra` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.9.4-3.module+el8.3.0+10353+73f6df5b`
`pki-server` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.9.4-3.module+el8.3.0+10353+73f6df5b`
`pki-symkey` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.9.4-3.module+el8.3.0+10353+73f6df5b`
`pki-symkey-debuginfo` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.9.4-3.module+el8.3.0+10353+73f6df5b`
`pki-tools` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.9.4-3.module+el8.3.0+10353+73f6df5b`
`pki-tools-debuginfo` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.9.4-3.module+el8.3.0+10353+73f6df5b`
`python3-pki` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:10.9.4-3.module+el8.3.0+10353+73f6df5b`
`tomcatjss` Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream	All versions	`0:7.5.0-1.module+el8.3.0+7355+c59bcbd9`
`ldapjdk` Rocky Linux:8	All versions	`0:4.22.0-1.module+el8.4.0+418+b7ae1d4a`

Products include Dogtagpki Dogtagpki, Fedoraproject Fedora, Redhat Certificate System, Redhat Enterprise Linux.

How do I fix CVE-2021-20179?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Is CVE-2021-20179 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-20179 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Fedoraproject Fedora vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2021-20179, GHSA-q87w-gh3f-77p7, RHSA-2021:0966, RLSA-2021:0966, UBUNTU-CVE-2021-20179, USN-8158-1.