CVE-2012-5783: Improper Certificate Validation in Apache Commons HttpClient

May 13, 2022 (updated November 5, 2024)

Apache Commons HttpClient 3.x, as used in Amazon Flexible Payments Service (FPS) merchant Java SDK and other products, does not verify that the server hostname matches a domain name in the subject’s Common Name (CN) or subjectAltName field of the X.509 certificate, which allows man-in-the-middle attackers to spoof SSL servers via an arbitrary valid certificate.

Note that the Commons HttpClient project is end of life. It has been replaced by the Apache HttpComponents project in its HttpClient and HttpCore modules. CVE-2012-5783 has been patched in v4.0 of the Apache HttpComponents HttpClient module.

References

access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2017:0868
exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/79984
github.com/advisories/GHSA-3832-9276-x7gf
github.com/apache/httpcomponents-client
issues.apache.org/jira/browse/HTTPCLIENT-1265
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-5783

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