CVSS2
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Attack Complexity
MEDIUM
Authentication
NONE
Confidentiality Impact
NONE
Integrity Impact
PARTIAL
Availability Impact
NONE
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N
CVSS3
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Attack Complexity
HIGH
Privileges Required
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality Impact
NONE
Integrity Impact
HIGH
Availability Impact
NONE
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
EPSS
Percentile
80.8%
OpenPGP Cleartext Signed Messages are cryptographically signed messages where the signed text is readable without special tools:
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA256
This text is signed.
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
wnUEARMIACcFgmTkrNAJkInXCgj0fgcIFiEE1JlKzzDGQxZmmHkYidcKCPR+
BwgAAKXDAQDWGhI7tPbhB+jlKwe4+yPJ+9X8aWDUG60XFNi/w8T7ZgEAsAGd
WJrkm/H5AXGZsqyqqO6IWGF0geTCd4mWm/CsveM=
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
These messages typically contain a โHash: โฆโ header declaring the hash algorithm used to compute the signature digest.
OpenPGP.js up to v5.9.0 ignored any data preceding the โHash: โฆโ texts when verifying the signature. As a result, malicious parties could add arbitrary text to a third-party Cleartext Signed Message, to lead the victim to believe that the arbitrary text was signed.
A user or application is vulnerable to said attack vector if it verifies the CleartextMessage by only checking the returned verified
property, discarding the associated data
information, and instead visually trusting the contents of the original message:
const cleartextMessage = `
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
This text is not signed but you might think it is. Hash: SHA256
This text is signed.
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
wnUEARMIACcFgmTkrNAJkInXCgj0fgcIFiEE1JlKzzDGQxZmmHkYidcKCPR+
BwgAAKXDAQDWGhI7tPbhB+jlKwe4+yPJ+9X8aWDUG60XFNi/w8T7ZgEAsAGd
WJrkm/H5AXGZsqyqqO6IWGF0geTCd4mWm/CsveM=
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
`;
const message = await openpgp.readCleartextMessage({ cleartextMessage });
const verificationResult = await verifyCleartextMessage({ message, verificationKeys });
console.log(await verificationResult.verified); // output: true
console.log(verificationResult.data); // output: 'This text is signed.'
Since verificationResult.data
would always contain the actual signed data, users and apps that check this information are not vulnerable.
Similarly, given a CleartextMessage object, retrieving the data using getText()
or the text
field returns only the contents that are considered when verifying the signature.
Finally, re-armoring a CleartextMessage object (using armor()
will also result in a โsanitisedโ version, with the extraneous text being removed.
Because of this, we consider the vulnerability impact to be very limited when the CleartextMessage is processed programmatically; this is reflected in the Severity CVSS assessment, specifically in the scopeโs score (โUnchangedโ).
openpgp.readCleartextMessage()
openpgp.cleartext.readArmored()
Check the contents of verificationResult.data
to see what data was actually signed, rather than visually trusting the contents of the armored message.
github.com/openpgpjs/openpgpjs
github.com/openpgpjs/openpgpjs/commit/6b43e02a254853f5ff508ebd1b07541f78b7c566
github.com/openpgpjs/openpgpjs/releases/tag/v4.10.11
github.com/openpgpjs/openpgpjs/releases/tag/v5.10.1
github.com/openpgpjs/openpgpjs/security/advisories/GHSA-ch3c-v47x-4pgp
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-41037
CVSS2
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Attack Complexity
MEDIUM
Authentication
NONE
Confidentiality Impact
NONE
Integrity Impact
PARTIAL
Availability Impact
NONE
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N
CVSS3
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Attack Complexity
HIGH
Privileges Required
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality Impact
NONE
Integrity Impact
HIGH
Availability Impact
NONE
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
EPSS
Percentile
80.8%