CVE-2021-22212
Published: 08 June 2021
Summary
CVE-2021-22212 is a medium-severity Use of a Broken or Risky Cryptographic Algorithm (CWE-327) vulnerability in Ntpsec Ntpsec. Its CVSS base score is 4.0 (Medium).
Operationally, ranked at the 32.4th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2021-9358
Vulnerability details
ntpkeygen can generate keys that ntpd fails to parse. NTPsec 1.2.0 allows ntpkeygen to generate keys with '#' characters. ntpd then either pads, shortens the key, or fails to load these keys entirely, depending on the key type and the…
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placement of the '#'. This results in the administrator not being able to use the keys as expected or the keys are shorter than expected and easier to brute-force, possibly resulting in MITM attacks between ntp clients and ntp servers. For short AES128 keys, ntpd generates a warning that it is padding them.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Likely Mitigating Controls AI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Contacts with security groups provide timely information on broken or risky cryptographic algorithms, reducing the likelihood of their selection and use.
Ongoing education and sharing of recommended practices helps organizations identify and migrate away from broken or risky cryptographic algorithms.
Cross-organization threat feeds commonly include advances in cryptanalysis and active exploits against weak or broken algorithms, allowing organizations to deprecate them proactively.
Capital planning and funding allow selection and ongoing support of strong cryptographic algorithms rather than weak or broken ones.
Risk updates surface newly-broken or risky cryptographic algorithms as threat intelligence and computing advances evolve, enabling timely replacement.
Scanners flag use of broken or weak cryptographic algorithms via known-vulnerability databases.
Enforces approved cryptographic algorithms for each use case, blocking use of broken or risky algorithms.
Flaw remediation replaces broken or risky cryptographic algorithms once safer implementations are released by vendors.