GitHub Advisoryadvisory · npm
GHSA-9jxc-qjr9-vjxq electron-updater Code Signing Bypass on Windows
HIGH
Official page ↗
- Aliases
- CVE-2024-39698
- Ecosystem
- npm
- Packages
- electron-updater
- Severity
- High
- CVSS vector
- CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- Weaknesses
- CWE-154, CWE-295
- Reviewed
- 2024-07-09
Affected packages
• npm electron-updater: < 6.3.0-alpha.6 → fixed in 6.3.0-alpha.6
Description
Observations
The file `packages/electron-updater/src/windowsExecutableCodeSignatureVerifier.ts` implements the signature validation routine for Electron applications on Windows. It executes the following command in a new shell (`process.env.ComSpec` on Windows, usually `C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe`):
https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-builder/blob/140e2f0eb0df79c2a46e35024e96d0563355fc89/packages/electron-updater/src/windowsExecutableCodeSignatureVerifier.ts#L35-L41
Because of the surrounding shell, a first pass by `cmd.exe` expands any environment variable found in command-line above.
Exploitation
This creates a situation where `verifySignature()` can be tricked into validating the certificate of a different file than the one that was just downloaded. If the step is successful, the malicious update will be executed even if its signature is invalid.
Impact
This attack assumes a compromised update manifest (server compromise, Man-in-the-Middle attack if fetched over HTTP, Cross-Site Scripting to point the application to a malicious updater server, etc.).
Patch
This vulnerability was patched in #8295, by comparing the path in the output of `Get-AuthenticodeSignature` with the intended one. The patch is available starting from 6.3.0-alpha.6.
Related
Alias · CVE (1)
- CVE-2024-39698 electron-updater allows for automatic updates for Electron apps. vulnerability
References
- https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-builder/security/advisories/GHSA-9jxc-qjr9-vjxq web
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-39698 advisory
- https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-builder/pull/8295 web
- https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-builder/commit/ac2e6a25aa491c1ef5167a552c19fc2085cd427f web
- https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-builder package
- https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-builder/blob/140e2f0eb0df79c2a46e35024e96d0563355fc89/packages/electron-updater/src/windowsExecutableCodeSignatureVerifier.ts#L35-L41 web