1109442 - "sec_error_reused_issuer_and_serial" instead of "sec_error_bad_signature"

Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE of bug 435013

(Firefox :: Security, defect)

Description

[Carl Mehner]

:To recreate:
configure a server to use TLS to send a valid cert and chain including a root CA certificate that has the last 21 bytes at the end of the signature zero'd out. (example attached)

:what happened:
received sec_error_reused_issuer_and_serial, connection cannot continue

:what should happen:
The signature on the root should be validated, (which in this case would fail) or the entire root ignored and looked up in the trust store. This should not be a "sec_error_reused_issuer_and_serial" issue because, the purported "duplicate" leaf doesn't chain to a valid root.

Comment 1

[Dana Keeler (she/her) (use needinfo) [:keeler] (on leave)]

This is a result of an architectural shortcoming in the way NSS handles certificates. NSS assumes that there will never be two certificates where the pair <issuer, serial number> is the same but the contents of the certificates differ elsewhere (which is exactly the situation you're encountering). Unfortunately as far as we know there's no easy fix.

Comment 2

[Elena Teverovskaia]

Attachment: bc2025.pem Baltimore Root

Certificate installed on the server tha Thunderbird is connecting to.

Comment 3

[Elena Teverovskaia]

Do you mind adding clarify by attaching Root certificate in the example? We are running into this message in Error Console of Thunderbird 31.4; trying proposed workaround of removing cert8.db did not work so far.