GHSA-p9w4-585h-g3c7LowCVSS 3.0

biscuit-auth vulnerable to public key confusion in third party block

Published
July 31, 2024
Last Modified
August 5, 2024

🔗 CVE IDs covered (1)

📋 Description

Third-party blocks can be generated without transferring the whole token to the third-party authority. Instead, a ThirdPartyBlock request can be sent, providing only the necessary info to generate a third-party block and to sign it:

  • the public key of the previous block (used in the signature)
  • the public keys part of the token symbol table (for public key interning in datalog expressions)

A third-part block request forged by a malicious user can trick the third-party authority into generating datalog trusting the wrong keypair.

Consider the following example (nominal case)

  • Authority A emits the following token: check if thirdparty("b") trusting ${pubkeyB}
  • The well-behaving holder then generates a third-party block request based on the token and sends it to third-party authority B
  • Third-party B generates the following third-party block thirdparty("b"); check if thirdparty("c") trusting ${pubkeyC}
  • The token holder now must obtain a third-party block from third party C to be able to use the token

Now, with a malicious user:

  • Authority A emits the following token: check if thirdparty("b") trusting ${pubkeyB}
  • The holder then attenuates the token with the following third party block thirdparty("c"), signed with a keypair pubkeyD, privkeyD) they generate
  • The holder then generates a third-party block request based on this token, but alter the ThirdPartyBlockRequest publicKeys field and replace pubkeyD with pubkeyC
  • Third-party B generates the following third-party block thirdparty("b"); check if thirdparty("c") trusting ${pubkeyC}
  • Due to the altered symbol table, the actual meaning of the block is thirdparty("b"); check if thirdparty("c") trusting ${pubkeyD}
  • The attacker can now use the token without obtaining a third-party block from C.

Impact

Tokens with third-party blocks containing trusted annotations generated through a third party block request

🎯 Affected products1

  • rust/biscuit-auth:>= 4.0.0, < 5.0.0

🔗 References (4)