ghsa-3f99-hvg4-qjwj
Vulnerability from github
Description 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:
javascript
b.putByte(String.fromCharCode(next & 0xFF))
The definition of putByte
is
javascript
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 |
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Nomenclature
- Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or seen somewhere by the user.
- Confirmed: The vulnerability is confirmed from an analyst perspective.
- Exploited: This vulnerability was exploited and seen by the user reporting the sighting.
- Patched: This vulnerability was successfully patched by the user reporting the sighting.
- Not exploited: This vulnerability was not exploited or seen by the user reporting the sighting.
- Not confirmed: The user expresses doubt about the veracity of the vulnerability.
- Not patched: This vulnerability was not successfully patched by the user reporting the sighting.