CVE-2024-42461
Published: 02 August 2024
Summary
CVE-2024-42461 is a critical-severity Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature (CWE-347) vulnerability in Elliptic Project Elliptic. Its CVSS base score is 9.1 (Critical).
Operationally, ranked in the top 13.4% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Deeper analysis
The vulnerability is ECDSA signature malleability in version 6.5.6 of the Elliptic package for Node.js, caused by acceptance of BER-encoded signatures. This affects cryptographic signature verification in applications that rely on the library for ECDSA operations and is tracked under CWE-347 with a CVSS 3.1 score of 9.1.
An unauthenticated remote attacker can supply a malleable signature over the network to bypass intended verification checks, achieving high impact on confidentiality and integrity without requiring user interaction. The flaw allows an adversary to alter a valid signature into another that still validates for the same message and key, undermining authentication or integrity protections that depend on strict DER encoding.
The referenced GitHub pull request 317 addresses the issue by restricting signatures to DER encoding, while the NetApp advisory NTAP-20241004-0005 provides guidance for affected products that incorporate the library.
EPSS for the CVE rose from a low baseline to a peak of 0.0662 on 2026-02-04 before receding to the current value of 0.0290, indicating measurable post-disclosure exploitation interest.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2024-2487
Vulnerability details
In the Elliptic package 6.5.6 for Node.js, ECDSA signature malleability occurs because BER-encoded signatures are allowed.
- 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.
Requires verification of digital signatures using organization-approved certificates before installation, directly preventing improper verification of cryptographic signatures.
Component authenticity commonly depends on cryptographic signatures; the control enforces proper verification of those signatures.
PKI certificates under an approved policy require cryptographic signature verification on issuance and validation.
Requires cryptographic signatures on authoritative data and support for verifying the chain of trust.
Mandates verification of cryptographic signatures (e.g., DNSSEC RRSIG) on resolution responses, addressing missing or bypassed signature checks.
Integrity tools commonly rely on cryptographic signatures whose improper validation this weakness covers.
Authenticity validation commonly relies on cryptographic signature or certificate checks that this control enforces.