CVE intelligence and bounded remediation
CVE-2018-8970 — Openbsd Libressl security vulnerability
The int_x509_param_set_hosts function in lib/libcrypto/x509/x509_vpm.c in LibreSSL 2.7.0 before 2.7.1 does not support a certain special case of a zero name length, which causes silent omission of hostname verification, and consequently allows man-in-the-middle attackers to spoof servers and obtain sensitive information via a crafted certificate. NOTE: the LibreSSL documentation indicates that this special case is supported, but the BoringSSL documentation does not.
- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 7.4 (3.0)
- Published
- 2018-03-24
- CISA KEV
- Not currently listed
- Ecosystem
- software/application
- Weaknesses
- CWE-295
Affected products
- openbsd / libressl / 2.7.0
Matched remediation archetype
Cryptography, certificate, signature, and channel validation
This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.
Check exposure
- Inventory affected algorithms, key uses, trust stores, certificate validation settings, random sources, and plaintext channels across clients and services.
- Determine which secrets, identities, signatures, or data protections depend on the affected primitive or validation path.
- Check debug, compatibility, fallback, and hostname or audience override settings in build and runtime configuration.
Remediate safely
- Use a maintained platform cryptographic API with approved algorithms, modes, parameters, randomness, and full peer identity validation.
- Remove insecure fallback and validation bypasses; separate keys by purpose and load them from managed secret storage.
- Plan rotation or reissuance for affected keys, certificates, tokens, hashes, or ciphertext and document compatibility sequencing.
Authoritative sources
Complete CVE record and remediation plan
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