UBUNTU-CVE-2021-22212

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    UBUNTU-CVE-2021-22212

    Published: 8 Jun 2021Last Modified: 4 Feb 2026

    Summary:

    Details: ntpkeygen can generate keys that ntpd fails to parse. NTPsec 1.2.0 allows ntpkeygen to generate keys with '#' characters. ntpd then either pads, shortens the key, or fails to load these keys entirely, depending on the key type and the placement of the '#'. This results in the administrator not being able to use the keys as expected or the keys are shorter than expected and easier to brute-force, possibly resulting in MITM attacks between ntp clients and ntp servers. For short AES128 keys, ntpd generates a warning that it is padding them.

    References: https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2021-22212, https://gitlab.com/NTPsec/ntpsec/-/issues/699, https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/cves/-/blob/master/2021/CVE-2021-22212.json, https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1955859, https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-22212

    Affected packages

    Package

    Name: ntpsec

    Purl: pkg:deb/ubuntu/[email protected]+dfsg1-1ubuntu0.2?arch=source&distro=esm-apps/bionic

    Affected ranges

    Type: ECOSYSTEM

    Events:

    Introduced- 0
    Fixed -None

    Affected versions

    1.0.0+dfsg1-1
    1.0.0+dfsg1-3

    Common Vulnerability Scoring System

    Attack Vector
    Network
    Adjacent
    Local
    Physical
    Privileges Required
    None
    Low
    High
    User Interaction
    None
    Required
    Scope
    Unchanged
    Changed
    Confidentiality
    None
    Low
    High
    Integrity
    None
    Low
    High
    Availability
    None
    Low
    High
    UBUNTU-CVE-2021-22212 | CVE-DB