msrc_cve-2020-36477
Vulnerability from csaf_microsoft
Published
2021-08-02 00:00
Modified
2025-09-03 22:03
Summary
An issue was discovered in Mbed TLS before 2.24.0. The verification of X.509 certificates when matching the expected common name (the cn argument of mbedtls_x509_crt_verify) with the actual certificate name is mishandled: when the subjecAltName extension is present, the expected name is compared to any name in that extension regardless of its type. This means that an attacker could impersonate a 4-byte or 16-byte domain by getting a certificate for the corresponding IPv4 or IPv6 address (this would require the attacker to control that IP address, though).

Notes

Additional Resources
To determine the support lifecycle for your software, see the Microsoft Support Lifecycle: https://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle
Disclaimer
The information provided in the Microsoft Knowledge Base is provided \"as is\" without warranty of any kind. Microsoft disclaims all warranties, either express or implied, including the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall Microsoft Corporation or its suppliers be liable for any damages whatsoever including direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, loss of business profits or special damages, even if Microsoft Corporation or its suppliers have been advised of the possibility of such damages. Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages so the foregoing limitation may not apply.



{
  "document": {
    "category": "csaf_vex",
    "csaf_version": "2.0",
    "distribution": {
      "text": "Public",
      "tlp": {
        "label": "WHITE",
        "url": "https://www.first.org/tlp/"
      }
    },
    "lang": "en-US",
    "notes": [
      {
        "category": "general",
        "text": "To determine the support lifecycle for your software, see the Microsoft Support Lifecycle: https://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle",
        "title": "Additional Resources"
      },
      {
        "category": "legal_disclaimer",
        "text": "The information provided in the Microsoft Knowledge Base is provided \\\"as is\\\" without warranty of any kind. Microsoft disclaims all warranties, either express or implied, including the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall Microsoft Corporation or its suppliers be liable for any damages whatsoever including direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, loss of business profits or special damages, even if Microsoft Corporation or its suppliers have been advised of the possibility of such damages. Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages so the foregoing limitation may not apply.",
        "title": "Disclaimer"
      }
    ],
    "publisher": {
      "category": "vendor",
      "contact_details": "secure@microsoft.com",
      "name": "Microsoft Security Response Center",
      "namespace": "https://msrc.microsoft.com"
    },
    "references": [
      {
        "category": "self",
        "summary": "CVE-2020-36477 An issue was discovered in Mbed TLS before 2.24.0. The verification of X.509 certificates when matching the expected common name (the cn argument of mbedtls_x509_crt_verify) with the actual certificate name is mishandled: when the subjecAltName extension is present, the expected name is compared to any name in that extension regardless of its type. This means that an attacker could impersonate a 4-byte or 16-byte domain by getting a certificate for the corresponding IPv4 or IPv6 address (this would require the attacker to control that IP address, though). - VEX",
        "url": "https://msrc.microsoft.com/csaf/vex/2021/msrc_cve-2020-36477.json"
      },
      {
        "category": "external",
        "summary": "Microsoft Support Lifecycle",
        "url": "https://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle"
      },
      {
        "category": "external",
        "summary": "Common Vulnerability Scoring System",
        "url": "https://www.first.org/cvss"
      }
    ],
    "title": "An issue was discovered in Mbed TLS before 2.24.0. The verification of X.509 certificates when matching the expected common name (the cn argument of mbedtls_x509_crt_verify) with the actual certificate name is mishandled: when the subjecAltName extension is present, the expected name is compared to any name in that extension regardless of its type. This means that an attacker could impersonate a 4-byte or 16-byte domain by getting a certificate for the corresponding IPv4 or IPv6 address (this would require the attacker to control that IP address, though).",
    "tracking": {
      "current_release_date": "2025-09-03T22:03:28.000Z",
      "generator": {
        "date": "2025-10-19T22:09:27.536Z",
        "engine": {
          "name": "MSRC Generator",
          "version": "1.0"
        }
      },
      "id": "msrc_CVE-2020-36477",
      "initial_release_date": "2021-08-02T00:00:00.000Z",
      "revision_history": [
        {
          "date": "2025-09-03T22:03:28.000Z",
          "legacy_version": "1",
          "number": "1",
          "summary": "Information published."
        }
      ],
      "status": "final",
      "version": "1"
    }
  },
  "product_tree": {
    "branches": [
      {
        "branches": [
          {
            "branches": [
              {
                "category": "product_version",
                "name": "2.0",
                "product": {
                  "name": "CBL Mariner 2.0",
                  "product_id": "17086"
                }
              },
              {
                "category": "product_version",
                "name": "3.0",
                "product": {
                  "name": "Azure Linux 3.0",
                  "product_id": "17084"
                }
              }
            ],
            "category": "product_name",
            "name": "Azure Linux"
          },
          {
            "category": "product_name",
            "name": "cbl2 qemu 6.2.0-24",
            "product": {
              "name": "cbl2 qemu 6.2.0-24",
              "product_id": "1"
            }
          },
          {
            "category": "product_name",
            "name": "azl3 qemu 8.2.0-16",
            "product": {
              "name": "azl3 qemu 8.2.0-16",
              "product_id": "2"
            }
          }
        ],
        "category": "vendor",
        "name": "Microsoft"
      }
    ],
    "relationships": [
      {
        "category": "default_component_of",
        "full_product_name": {
          "name": "cbl2 qemu 6.2.0-24 as a component of CBL Mariner 2.0",
          "product_id": "17086-1"
        },
        "product_reference": "1",
        "relates_to_product_reference": "17086"
      },
      {
        "category": "default_component_of",
        "full_product_name": {
          "name": "azl3 qemu 8.2.0-16 as a component of Azure Linux 3.0",
          "product_id": "17084-2"
        },
        "product_reference": "2",
        "relates_to_product_reference": "17084"
      }
    ]
  },
  "vulnerabilities": [
    {
      "cve": "CVE-2020-36477",
      "cwe": {
        "id": "CWE-295",
        "name": "Improper Certificate Validation"
      },
      "flags": [
        {
          "label": "component_not_present",
          "product_ids": [
            "17084-2"
          ]
        },
        {
          "label": "vulnerable_code_not_present",
          "product_ids": [
            "17086-1"
          ]
        }
      ],
      "notes": [
        {
          "category": "general",
          "text": "mitre",
          "title": "Assigning CNA"
        }
      ],
      "product_status": {
        "known_not_affected": [
          "17086-1",
          "17084-2"
        ]
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "category": "self",
          "summary": "CVE-2020-36477 An issue was discovered in Mbed TLS before 2.24.0. The verification of X.509 certificates when matching the expected common name (the cn argument of mbedtls_x509_crt_verify) with the actual certificate name is mishandled: when the subjecAltName extension is present, the expected name is compared to any name in that extension regardless of its type. This means that an attacker could impersonate a 4-byte or 16-byte domain by getting a certificate for the corresponding IPv4 or IPv6 address (this would require the attacker to control that IP address, though). - VEX",
          "url": "https://msrc.microsoft.com/csaf/vex/2021/msrc_cve-2020-36477.json"
        }
      ],
      "title": "An issue was discovered in Mbed TLS before 2.24.0. The verification of X.509 certificates when matching the expected common name (the cn argument of mbedtls_x509_crt_verify) with the actual certificate name is mishandled: when the subjecAltName extension is present, the expected name is compared to any name in that extension regardless of its type. This means that an attacker could impersonate a 4-byte or 16-byte domain by getting a certificate for the corresponding IPv4 or IPv6 address (this would require the attacker to control that IP address, though)."
    }
  ]
}


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