CVE-2010-0524
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedThe default configuration of the FreeRADIUS server in Apple Mac OS X Server before 10.6.3 permits EAP-TLS authenticated connections on the basis of an arbitrary client certificate, which allows remote attackers to obtain network connectivity via a crafted RADIUS Access Request message.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceThe default FreeRADIUS configuration in Apple Mac OS X Server before 10.6.3 improperly accepts any client certificate for EAP-TLS authentication without validating it against trusted Certificate Authorities. This allows remote attackers with a crafted certificate to authenticate and gain unauthorized network access.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data= 10.6.0= 10.6.1= 10.6.2= 10.6.0= 10.6.1= 10.6.2CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check Mac OS X versionRun 'sw_vers' or 'system_profiler SPSoftwareDataType' to obtain the exact OS versionAffected if Version is 10.6.0, 10.6.1, or 10.6.2 (for either Mac OS X or Mac OS X Server)
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Verify FreeRADIUS is installedCheck for the presence of the FreeRADIUS daemon: run 'which radiusd' or look for /etc/radiusd/ or /usr/local/etc/radiusd/ directoryAffected if FreeRADIUS is installed and running on the system
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Confirm EAP-TLS authentication is enabledExamine the FreeRADIUS eap.conf file (typically in /etc/radiusd/ or /usr/local/etc/radiusd/) and look for the 'eap' section with 'tls' or 'eap-tls' configuredAffected if EAP-TLS is the configured EAP method in the FreeRADIUS configuration
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Inspect client certificate validation settingsIn the eap.conf file, locate the 'tls' or 'eap-tls' subsection and check for 'verify_client' or 'require_client_cert' directives - if absent or set to 'no', certificates are not validatedAffected if Client certificate verification is disabled, not configured, or set to allow any certificate (verify_client = "no" or missing CA_file configuration)
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Check trusted CA certificate configurationIn the FreeRADIUS TLS configuration, verify whether a CA certificate file is specified using 'CA_file' or 'trusted_ca_file' pointing to a valid CA bundleAffected if No trusted CA certificate store is defined, or the configuration explicitly disables validation against a CA
The system is affected if it is Mac OS X or Mac OS X Server version 10.6.0, 10.6.1, or 10.6.2 with FreeRADIUS configured to use EAP-TLS without proper client certificate validation against a trusted CA.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpgrade to Mac OS X Server 10.6.3 or later, or manually configure FreeRADIUS to properly validate client certificates against a trusted CA certificate store and reject invalid certificates.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2010-0524 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2010-0524 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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