#VU78974 Use of a broken or risky cryptographic algorithm in NTPsec - CVE-2021-22212

Vulnerability identifier: #VU78974

Vulnerability risk: Medium

CVSSv4.0: 1.7 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/U:Green]

CVE-ID: CVE-2021-22212

CWE-ID: CWE-327

Exploitation vector: Network

Exploit availability: No

Vulnerable software:
NTPsec
Client/Desktop applications / Encryption software

Vendor: The NTPsec project

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to perform MitM attack.

The vulnerability exists due to improper input validation when parsing keys generated by ntpkeygen. If the key contains a string with with '#' characters, the ntpd then either pads, shortens the key, or fails to load these keys entirely, which can result in possibility to launch MITM attacks between ntp clients and ntp servers.

Mitigation
Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

NTPsec: 1.0.0 - 1.2.0

---

External links
https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/cves/-/blob/master/2021/CVE-2021-22212.json
https://gitlab.com/NTPsec/ntpsec/-/issues/699
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1955859
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/3GIT2HYL5BQXPGKI6ZDNG473IEQ5WQF2/

---

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Yes. This vulnerability can be exploited by a remote non-authenticated attacker via the Internet.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.