dbcve.org
Fort ValidatorApplication · Nicmx

CVE-2024-45238

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-08-24
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.6.3 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
An issue was discovered in Fort before 1.6.3. A malicious RPKI repository that descends from a (trusted) Trust Anchor can serve (via rsync or RRDP) a resource certificate containing a bit string that doesn't properly decode into a Subject Public Key. OpenSSL does not report this problem during parsing, and when compiled with OpenSSL libcrypto versions below 3, Fort recklessly dereferences the pointer. Because Fort is an RPKI Relying Party, a crash can lead to Route Origin Validation unavailability, which can lead to compromised routing.

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 confidence

Fort RPKI Relying Party software before v1.6.3 crashes when parsing a malformed resource certificate served by a malicious repository descending from a trusted Trust Anchor. The certificate contains a bit string that fails to decode into a Subject Public Key properly; OpenSSL does not catch this error, and when Fort is compiled with OpenSSL < 3.x, it recklessly dereferences an invalid pointer, causing a crash.

MitigationUpgrade Fort to version 1.6.3 or later. Until the upgrade is applied, monitor for crashes and consider implementing redundancy in Route Origin Validation to maintain routing integrity.

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
Fort ValidatorApplication
Affected:< 1.6.3

CVSS 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
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check installed Fort Validator version
    Run 'fort --version' or check the package manager for the installed fort-validator package version
    Affected if The version displayed is earlier than 1.6.3 (e.g., 1.6.2, 1.6.1, 1.5.x, etc.)
  2. Check OpenSSL version used by Fort
    Run 'fort --version' and look for the OpenSSL version listed in the output, or run 'openssl version' to confirm OpenSSL is below 3.0
    Affected if Fort was compiled with OpenSSL version 1.x (any subversion of OpenSSL 1.0 or 1.1) rather than OpenSSL 3.x
  3. Confirm Fort processes RPKI repositories
    Verify that Fort is configured to validate RPKI data by checking its configuration or observing it actively fetching/validating ROAs from Trust Anchors
    Affected if Fort is operational and configured to process RPKI certificates from any Trust Anchor (this is the default operational state)

You are affected if Fort Validator version is below 1.6.3 AND OpenSSL version used is below 3.0, and Fort is actively processing RPKI repository data.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 1.6.3 or later
Fixed in 1.6.3
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Fort to version 1.6.3 or later. Until the upgrade is applied, monitor for crashes and consider implementing redundancy in Route Origin Validation to maintain routing integrity.

Recommended fix High confidence

Fort Validator 1.6.3

  1. Check current Fort Validator version using 'fort --version' or equivalent command
  2. Download Fort Validator version 1.6.3 or later from the official Fort RPKI repository
  3. Stop the running Fort Validator service
  4. Replace the existing Fort Validator binary with the new version
  5. Restart the Fort Validator service
  6. Verify the new version is running correctly
  7. Ensure the upgrade is performed on all instances of Fort Validator in the RPKI Relying Party infrastructure

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Fort Validator Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2024-45238 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data