Description
neon before 0.28.6, when OpenSSL or GnuTLS is used, does not properly handle a '\0' character in a domain name in the subject's Common Name (CN) field of an X.509 certificate, which allows man-in-the-middle attackers to spoof arbitrary SSL servers via a crafted certificate issued by a legitimate Certification Authority, a related issue to CVE-2009-2408.
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 14 | litmus | 0.13-1 | — |
| Debian 14 | neon27 | 0.28.6-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | litmus | 0.13-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | neon27 | 0.28.6-1 | — |
| Debian 12 | litmus | 0.13-1 | — |
| Debian 12 | neon27 | 0.28.6-1 | — |
Red Hat
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| RHEL 5 | neon +1 | 0.25.5-10.el5_4.1 | RHSA-2009:1452 |
| RHEL 4 | neon +1 | 0.24.7-4.el4_8.2 | RHSA-2009:1452 |
Advisories 1
- RHSA-2009:1452 Red Hat Security Advisory: neon security update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Jun 26, 2026
References
- [neon] 20090818 neon: release 0.28.6 (SECURITY) mailing-list
- [neon] 20090818 CVE-2009-2474: fix handling of NUL in SSL cert subject names mailing-list
- http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4435
- ADV-2009-2341 vdb-entry
- oval:org.mitre.oval:def:11721 vdb-entry signature
- MDVSA-2009:221 vendor-advisory
- 36079 vdb-entry
- APPLE-SA-2010-11-10-1 vendor-advisory
- 36371 third-party-advisory
- USN-835-1 vendor-advisory
- FEDORA-2009-8815 vendor-advisory
- FEDORA-2009-8794 vendor-advisory
- 36799 third-party-advisory