Description
NTP 4.2.4 before 4.2.4p5 and 4.2.5 before 4.2.5p150 does not properly check the return value from the OpenSSL EVP_VerifyFinal function, which allows remote attackers to bypass validation of the certificate chain via a malformed SSL/TLS signature for DSA and ECDSA keys, a similar vulnerability to CVE-2008-5077.
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 11 | ntp | 1:4.2.4p4+dfsg-8 | — |
| Debian 4.0 | ntp | 1:4.2.2.p4+dfsg-2etch1 | DSA-1702-1 |
Red Hat
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| RHEL 5 | ntp | 4.2.2p1-9.el5_3.1 | RHSA-2009:0046 |
| RHEL 4 | ntp | 4.2.0.a.20040617-8.el4_7.1 | RHSA-2009:0046 |
Advisories 2
- RHSA-2009:0046 Red Hat Security Advisory: ntp security update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Jun 26, 2026
- DSA-1702-1 ntp - cryptographic weakness Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Mar 9, 2026
References
- http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3549
- 20090107 [oCERT-2008-016] Multiple OpenSSL signature verification API misuses mailing-list
- 1021533 vdb-entry
- [announce] 20090108 NTP 4.2.4p6 Released mailing-list
- 34642 third-party-advisory
- RHSA-2009:0046 vendor-advisory
- 35074 third-party-advisory
- APPLE-SA-2009-05-12 vendor-advisory
- 33558 third-party-advisory
- SUSE-SR:2009:005 vendor-advisory
- http://www.ocert.org/advisories/ocert-2008-016.html
- SSA:2009-014-03 vendor-advisory
- SUSE-SR:2009:008 vendor-advisory
- 33648 third-party-advisory
- 33406 third-party-advisory
- TA09-133A third-party-advisory
- oval:org.mitre.oval:def:10035 vdb-entry signature
- ADV-2009-1297 vdb-entry
- ADV-2009-0042 vdb-entry