Can a malicious hacker share Linux distributions which trust bad root certificates?

Posted by iamrohitbanga on Super User See other posts from Super User or by iamrohitbanga
Published on 2010-04-28T08:28:34Z Indexed on 2010/05/01 19:18 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 350

Filed under:

security

|

networking

Suppose a hacker launches a new Linux distro with firefox provided with it. Now a browser contains the certificates of the root certification authorities of PKI. Because firefox is a free browser anyone can package it with fake root certificates. Thus a fake root certificate would contain a the certification authority that is not actually certified. Can this be used to authenticate some websites. How?

Many existing linux distros are mirrored by people. They can easily package software containing certificates that can lead to such attacks. Is the above possible? Has such an attack taken place before?

© Super User or respective owner

Related posts about security

sudo apt-get update errors

as seen on Ask Ubuntu - Search for 'Ask Ubuntu'
Here is what I get on my terminal when running sudo apt-get update errors. I dont know if the issue is from my sources.list or my proxy setup(have not made any changes to proxies). Thank you for any help in advanced. Ign http://security.ubuntu.com oneiric-security Release.gpg Ign http://security… >>> More
The Security-Developer Gap: Why IT Security Can't Fix Your Security Problems Alone

as seen on Devx - Search for 'Devx'
Two well-known white hats explain how hackers take advantage of security holes left by enterprise application developers. >>> More
The Security-Developer Gap: Why IT Security Can't Fix Your Security Problems Alone

as seen on Internet.com - Search for 'Internet.com'
Two well-known white hats explain how hackers take advantage of security holes left by enterprise application developers. >>> More
StackOverFlowError while creating Mac object on AS400/Java

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
Hello all, I am a newbie to AS400-Java programming. I am trying to create my first program to test the implementation of Message Authentication Code (MAC). I am trying to use the HMACSHA1 hash function. My (Java 1.4) program runs fine on a dev box (V5R4).But fails terribly on the QA box (V5R3). My… >>> More
Google App Engine - Spring Security Issue (java.security.AccessControlException)

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
I'm currently getting the AccessControlException below when I deploy to app engine (I don't see it when I run in my local environment). I'm using GAE 1.3.1, Spring 3.0.1, and Spring Security 3.0.2. Any ideas how to get around this issue? It appears to be an issue with Spring Security trying to get… >>> More

Related posts about networking

Networking stopped working on Ubuntu

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
I installed Ubuntu 10.04 through the Wubi installer (Funny, I installed it today and thought I would have gotten 10.10). I had a network connection and everything was working fine. I rebooted my coumputer a couple of times and then suddenly, I could not connect to the network and when I click the… >>> More
Troubles with start up defenition of networking service in Ubuntu

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
I use Ubuntu 12.04.1. I put attention that networking script starting in runlevel 0: user@comp:/etc/rc0.d$ chkconfig -l networking networking 0:on 1:off 2:off 3:off 4:off 5:off 6:off When I try to move it working to appropriate run levels I get error: user@comp:/etc/rc0… >>> More
Installing the Elgg Social Networking CMS

as seen on Internet.com - Search for 'Internet.com'
One Open Source CMS that stands out above the rest for small businesses and personal networks is the Elgg open source "social engine," which can be used to create social applications. Scott Clark shows you how to install and get started with this social networking CMS. >>> More
OAuth: Token-Based Authorization for the Social Networking Age

as seen on Internet.com - Search for 'Internet.com'
The OAuth token-based authorization system allows users to grant third-party access to their resources without sharing their usernames and passwords. It's perfect for the age of data scattered across many social networking sites. >>> More
OAuth: Token-Based Authorization for the Social Networking Age

as seen on Internet.com - Search for 'Internet.com'
The OAuth token-based authorization system allows users to grant third-party access to their resources without sharing their usernames and passwords. It's perfect for the age of data scattered across many social networking sites. >>> More