CVE-2024-41949: biscuit-auth vulnerable to public key confusion in third party block
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
Aemits 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
Bgenerates the following third-party blockthirdparty("b"); check if thirdparty("c") trusting ${pubkeyC} - The token holder now must obtain a third-party block from third party
Cto be able to use the token
Now, with a malicious user:
- Authority
Aemits 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 keypairpubkeyD, privkeyD)they generate - The holder then generates a third-party block request based on this token, but alter the
ThirdPartyBlockRequestpublicKeysfield and replacepubkeyDwithpubkeyC - Third-party
Bgenerates the following third-party blockthirdparty("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.
References
Code Behaviors & Features
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