CVE-2021-3450: Improper Certificate Validation
(updated )
The X509_V_FLAG_X509_STRICT
flag enables additional security checks of the certificates present in a certificate chain. An error in the implementation of this check meant that the result of a previous check to confirm that certificates in the chain are valid CA certificates was overwritten. This effectively bypasses the check that non-CA certificates must not be able to issue other certificates. If a purpose
has been configured then there is a subsequent opportunity for checks that the certificate is a valid CA. All of the named purpose
values implemented in libcrypto perform this check. Therefore, where a purpose is set the certificate chain will still be rejected even when the strict flag has been used. A purpose
is set by default in libssl client and server certificate verification routines, but it can be overridden or removed by an application. In order to be affected, an application must explicitly set the X509_V_FLAG_X509_STRICT
verification flag and either not set a purpose
for the certificate verification or, in the case of TLS client or server applications, override the default purpose
.
References
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