GHSA-3F99-HVG4-QJWJ
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2021-10-11 17:09 – Updated: 2021-10-11 18:36Description and Impact
A bug in the pseudo-random number generator used by keypair versions up to and including 1.0.3 could allow for weak RSA key generation. This could enable an attacker to decrypt confidential messages or gain authorized access to an account belonging to the victim. We recommend replacing any RSA keys that were generated using keypair version 1.0.3 or earlier.
Fix
- The bug in the pseudo-random number generator is fixed in commit
9596418. - If the crypto module is available, it is used instead of the pseudo-random number generator. Also fixed in
9596418
Additional Details
The specific line with the flaw is:
b.putByte(String.fromCharCode(next & 0xFF))
The definition of putByte is
util.ByteBuffer.prototype.putByte = function(b) {
this.data += String.fromCharCode(b);
};
Simplified, this is String.fromCharCode(String.fromCharCode(next & 0xFF)). This results in most of the buffer containing zeros. An example generated buffer:
(Note: truncated for brevity)
\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00
\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00
\x00\x00\x00\x00\x04\x00\x00\x00....\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00
\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00
\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00
Since it is masking with 0xFF, approximately 97% of the bytes are converted to zeros. The impact is that each byte in the RNG seed has a 97% chance of being 0 due to incorrect conversion.
Credit
This issue was reported to GitHub Security Lab by Ross Wheeler of Axosoft. It was discovered by Axosoft engineer Dan Suceava, who noticed that keypair was regularly generating duplicate RSA keys. GitHub security engineer @vcsjones (Kevin Jones) independently investigated the problem and identified the cause and source code location of the bug.
{
"affected": [
{
"package": {
"ecosystem": "npm",
"name": "keypair"
},
"ranges": [
{
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "1.0.4"
}
],
"type": "ECOSYSTEM"
}
]
}
],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2021-41117"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-335"
],
"github_reviewed": true,
"github_reviewed_at": "2021-10-11T17:06:03Z",
"nvd_published_at": "2021-10-11T17:15:00Z",
"severity": "HIGH"
},
"details": "## Description and Impact\n\nA bug in the pseudo-random number generator used by [keypair](https://github.com/juliangruber/keypair) versions up to and including 1.0.3 could allow for weak RSA key generation. This could enable an attacker to decrypt confidential messages or gain authorized access to an account belonging to the victim. We recommend replacing any RSA keys that were generated using keypair version 1.0.3 or earlier.\n\n## Fix\n\n* The [bug](https://github.com/juliangruber/keypair/blob/87c62f255baa12c1ec4f98a91600f82af80be6db/index.js#L1008) in the pseudo-random number generator is fixed in commit [`9596418`](https://github.com/juliangruber/keypair/commit/9596418d3363d3e757676c0b6a8f2d35a9d1cb18).\n* If the crypto module is available, it is used instead of the pseudo-random number generator. Also fixed in [`9596418`](https://github.com/juliangruber/keypair/commit/9596418d3363d3e757676c0b6a8f2d35a9d1cb18)\n\n## Additional Details\n\nThe specific [line](https://github.com/juliangruber/keypair/blob/87c62f255baa12c1ec4f98a91600f82af80be6db/index.js#L1008) with the flaw is:\n\n```javascript\nb.putByte(String.fromCharCode(next \u0026 0xFF))\n```\n\nThe [definition](https://github.com/juliangruber/keypair/blob/87c62f255baa12c1ec4f98a91600f82af80be6db/index.js#L350-L352) of `putByte` is \n\n```javascript\nutil.ByteBuffer.prototype.putByte = function(b) {\n this.data += String.fromCharCode(b);\n};\n```\n\nSimplified, this is `String.fromCharCode(String.fromCharCode(next \u0026 0xFF))`. This results in most of the buffer containing zeros. An example generated buffer:\n\n(Note: truncated for brevity)\n\n```\n\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\n\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\n\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x04\\x00\\x00\\x00....\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\n\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\n\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\\x00\n```\n\nSince it is masking with 0xFF, approximately 97% of the bytes are converted to zeros. The impact is that each byte in the RNG seed has a 97% chance of being 0 due to incorrect conversion.\n\n## Credit\n\nThis issue was reported to GitHub Security Lab by Ross Wheeler of Axosoft. It was discovered by Axosoft engineer Dan Suceava, who noticed that [keypair](https://github.com/juliangruber/keypair) was regularly generating duplicate RSA keys. GitHub security engineer [@vcsjones (Kevin Jones)](https://github.com/vcsjones) independently investigated the problem and identified the cause and source code location of the bug.",
"id": "GHSA-3f99-hvg4-qjwj",
"modified": "2021-10-11T18:36:36Z",
"published": "2021-10-11T17:09:05Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/juliangruber/keypair/security/advisories/GHSA-3f99-hvg4-qjwj"
},
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-41117"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/juliangruber/keypair/commit/9596418d3363d3e757676c0b6a8f2d35a9d1cb18"
},
{
"type": "PACKAGE",
"url": "https://github.com/juliangruber/keypair"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/juliangruber/keypair/releases/tag/v1.0.4"
},
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://securitylab.github.com/advisories/GHSL-2021-1012-keypair"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
}
],
"summary": "Insecure random number generation in keypair"
}
Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date |
|---|
Nomenclature
- Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
- Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
- Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
- Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
- Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.