OpenSC: Insufficient protection of smart card PIN

1. Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

Advisory Reference	GLSA 200812-09 / opensc
Release Date	December 10, 2008
Latest Revision	December 10, 2008: 01
Impact	normal
Exploitable	local

Package	Vulnerable versions	Unaffected versions	Architecture(s)
dev-libs/opensc	< 0.11.6	>= 0.11.6	All supported architectures

Related bugreports: #233543

Synopsis

Smart cards formatted using OpenSC do not sufficiently protect the PIN, allowing attackers to reset it.

2. Impact Information

Background

OpenSC is a smart card application that allows reading and writing via PKCS#11.

Description

Chaskiel M Grundman reported that OpenSC uses weak permissions (ADMIN file control information of 00) for the 5015 directory on smart cards and USB crypto tokens running Siemens CardOS M4.

Impact

A physically proximate attacker can exploit this vulnerability to change the PIN on a smart card and use it for authentication, leading to privilege escalation.

3. Resolution Information

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

All OpenSC users should upgrade to the latest version, and then check and update their smart cards:

Code Listing 3.1: Resolution

# emerge --sync
# emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=dev-libs/opensc-0.11.6"
# pkcs15-tool --test-update
# pkcs15-tool --test-update --update

4. References

CVE-2008-2235

Updated December 10, 2008

Summary: This is a Gentoo Linux Security Advisory

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