CVE-2024-51491: Process crash during CRL-based revocation check on OS using separate mount point for temp Directory in notation-go

First published: Mon Jan 13 2025(Updated: )

### Summary The issue was identified during Quarkslab's security audit on the Certificate Revocation List (CRL) based revocation check feature. After retrieving the CRL, notation-go attempts to update the CRL cache using the os.Rename method. However, this operation may fail due to operating system-specific limitations, particularly when the source and destination paths are on different mount points. This failure could lead to an unexpected program termination. ### Details In method `crl.(*FileCache).Set`, a temporary file is created in the OS dedicated area (like /tmp for, usually, Linux/Unix). The file is written and then it is tried to move it to the dedicated `notation` cache directory thanks `os.Rename`. As specified in Go documentation, OS specific restriction may apply. When used with Linux OS, it is relying on `rename` syscall from the libc and as per the [documentation](https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man2/rename.2.html), moving a file to a different mountpoint raises an `EXDEV` error, interpreted as `Cross device link not permitted error`. Some Linux distribution, like `RedHat` use a dedicated filesystem (`tmpfs`), mounted on a specific mountpoint (usually `/tmp`) for temporary files. When using such OS, revocation check based on CRL will repeatedly crash `notation`. ### PoC 1. Ensure that the temporary file storage area (e.g., /tmp) is mounted on a different mount point than the user's 'notation' cache directory. 2. Either disable the Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) revocation check, or utilize certificates that exclusively support Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs) for revocation check. 3. Try to verify a previously generated signature using the 'notation' tool. ### Impact The signature verification process is aborted as process crashes. ### Remediation The cache file should be created, written, then copied to the wanted final location, and finally removed. Additionally, this error shouldn't lead to a crash as it is not fatal and shouldn't prevent the rest of the program to properly continue

Credit: security-advisories@github.com security-advisories@github.com

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