GHSA-f5v5-ccqc-6w36: Async nats Async-nats Vulnerable To TLS Certificate Vulnerability

MODERATE
Share
Published
Advisory Summary

GHSA-f5v5-ccqc-6w36 is a MODERATE async-nats vulnerable to tls certificate vulnerability (General Security Weakness) affecting Async nats libraries in the crates.io ecosystem. The issue involves async-nats vulnerable to tls certificate common name validation bypass. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 0.29.0.

GHSA-f5v5-ccqc-6w36 at a Glance

CVE Identifier N/A
GHSA Identifier GHSA-f5v5-ccqc-6w36
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score N/A
CWE Classification General Security Weakness
Affected Product Async nats
Package Ecosystem crates.io
Published Date
Last Updated

How to Fix GHSA-f5v5-ccqc-6w36

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Async nats dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

async-nats fixed: 0.29.0 
Upgrade async-nats to 0.29.0
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

inspect dependencies for async-nats

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by GHSA-f5v5-ccqc-6w36, inspect your project dependencies for Async nats:

inspect dependencies for async-nats

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Async nats in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 0.29.0), your application is affected.

Note: Verify declared build manifests and deployed runtime container environments.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under General Security Weakness. In Async nats, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

The NATS official Rust clients are vulnerable to MitM when using TLS. The common name of the server's TLS certificate is validated against the `host`name provided by the server's plaintext `INFO` message during the initial connection setup phase. A MitM proxy can tamper with the `host` field's value by substituting it with the common name of a valid certificate it controls, fooling the client into accepting it. ## Reproduction steps 1. The NATS Rust client tries to establish a new connection 2. The connection is intercepted by a MitM proxy 3. The proxy makes a separate connection to the NATS server 4. The NATS server replies with an `INFO` message 5. The proxy reads the `INFO`, alters the `host` JSON field and passes the tampered `INFO` back to the client 6. The proxy upgrades the client connection to TLS, presenting a certificate issued by a certificate authority present in the client's keychain. In the previous step the `host` was set to the common name of said certificate 7. `rustls` accepts the certificate, having verified that the common name matches the attacker-controlled value it was given 8. The client has been fooled by the MitM proxy into accepting the attacker-controlled certificate

GHSA-f5v5-ccqc-6w36 Affected Async nats Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
0.29.0
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
async-nats
 crates.io
< 0.29.0
0.29.0

References

Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/nats-io/nats.rs/commit/817a7b942c462fa9d9938dcb62124173634132fb#diff-767d442397fcaaf2f83e8f924d4a70317a2ce4703a49964d6007707949cfa5f5L303-R304
Async nats Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/nats-io/nats.rs
rustsec.org/advisories/rustsec-... WEB
https://rustsec.org/advisories/RUSTSEC-2023-0027.html

Frequently Asked Questions

What is GHSA-f5v5-ccqc-6w36?
GHSA-f5v5-ccqc-6w36 is a security vulnerability in Async nats involving async-nats vulnerable to TLS certificate common name validation bypass under General Security Weakness.
Which Async nats versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 0.29.0 across affected packages: async-nats.
What version fixes GHSA-f5v5-ccqc-6w36?
Upgrading to 0.29.0 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is async-nats affected?
Yes, async-nats is affected in releases prior to 0.29.0. Upgrade your dependency to 0.29.0 or later.
What CWE is associated with GHSA-f5v5-ccqc-6w36?
GHSA-f5v5-ccqc-6w36 is classified under General Security Weakness.
How can I check crates.io dependencies for GHSA-f5v5-ccqc-6w36?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for async-nats'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-f5v5-ccqc-6w36",
  "modified" : "2023-03-24T21:59:53Z",
  "published" : "2023-03-24T21:59:53Z",
  "aliases" : [ ],
  "summary" : "async-nats vulnerable to TLS certificate common name validation bypass",
  "details" : "The NATS official Rust clients are vulnerable to MitM when using TLS.\n\nThe common name of the server's TLS certificate is validated against the `host`name provided by the server's plaintext `INFO` message during the initial connection setup phase. A MitM proxy can tamper with the `host` field's value by substituting it with the common name of a valid certificate it controls, fooling the client into accepting it.\n\n## Reproduction steps\n\n1. The NATS Rust client tries to establish a new connection\n2. The connection is intercepted by a MitM proxy\n3. The proxy makes a separate connection to the NATS server\n4. The NATS server replies with an `INFO` message\n5. The proxy reads the `INFO`, alters the `host` JSON field and passes the tampered `INFO` back to the client\n6. The proxy upgrades the client connection to TLS, presenting a certificate issued by a certificate authority present in the client's keychain. In the previous step the `host` was set to the common name of said certificate\n7. `rustls` accepts the certificate, having verified that the common name matches the attacker-controlled value it was given\n8. The client has been fooled by the MitM proxy into accepting the attacker-controlled certificate\n",
  "severity" : [ ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "crates.io",
      "name" : "async-nats"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.29.0"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/nats-io/nats.rs/commit/817a7b942c462fa9d9938dcb62124173634132fb#diff-767d442397fcaaf2f83e8f924d4a70317a2ce4703a49964d6007707949cfa5f5L303-R304"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/nats-io/nats.rs"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://rustsec.org/advisories/RUSTSEC-2023-0027.html"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2023-03-24T21:59:53Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}