Live data from Hacker News

Private keys used to sign EU Digital Covid Certificate might have been leaked

nitter.net

111–120 of 214 posts

Re: Private keys used to sign EU Digital Covid Certificate might have been leaked

#111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Timestamping does exist but it isn't used in the Web PKI (what you're calling "TLS certificates") Both backdating and forward dating have been done in the Web PKI for various reasons, both legitimate (e.g. historically if you couldn't randomise serial numbers enough it was acceptable to randomise the notBefore time parameters slightly, this is no longer allowed) and illegitimate (we have pretty good circumstantial ev…

Something that is currently being used (sort of widely) is X509 OCSP. As the Cert gets signed, the CA also embeds an OCSP URL which clients can later use on the fly to determine if a cert is revoked. In case of a leaked private key where the actual PKI wasn't breached, they still have authority over the CA itself and can therefore determine which certs are valid and which are fake. This retains validity of the known…

> In case of a leaked private key where the actual PKI wasn't breached, they still have authority over the CA itself and can therefore determine which certs are valid and which are fake.

In a very important sense the private key is the CA.

The OCSP responses are not encrypted (you'll notice that URL you mentioned is HTTP, you can't use HTTPS for this) but they are signed documents. They're signed by the issuer using its Private Key.

So, somebody who has the Private Key can mint bogus OCSP responses signed with that key too.

The recovery from losing a signing key is to revoke the entire tree under that key. This will usually involve pushing out software changes e.g. a Firefox or Chrome gets fresh data from the vendor saying "This CA is no longer trustworthy, disregard it".

This disaster scenario is why the root keys aren't (must not be) online. If you break into the computer systems of a famous but competent CA and seize total control of everything, you could perhaps (it should be difficult because they're using HSMs but if you've really got control of everything it may be possible) steal the private keys for the online intermediates. But their root is physically locked in somebody's safe, so, you can't steal that by this route for the same reason you can't steal gold bars from Fort Knox by hacking the Pentagon's web site.

Re: Private keys used to sign EU Digital Covid Certificate might have been leaked

#112
post #104

Seems the keys have already been revoked. Doesn't mean it can't leak again, but doesn't seem to be a problem with a leaked key at the moment. Actual source seems to be here: https://rfmirror.com/Thread-TRADING-make-EU-green-pass?page=...

I checked the Hitler code with apps from Latvia, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Iceland and France. The apps for Latvia, Luxembourg and Switzerland say OK, the one for France says "OK but fraudulent", the one for Iceland says no. From the article it looks like the Italian app also says no. Not revoked everywhere it seems. Also, the French app seems to check against a blacklist, so it is possible that only the Hitler code i…

> "OK but fraudulent"

What does that even mean?

Re: Private keys used to sign EU Digital Covid Certificate might have been leaked

#113

Nobody verified my code so far, they just eyeball the app. So the practical impact of such a leak is probably small, since people will fall for dumb forgeries already.

I haven't had my Canadian QR code properly scanned once either.

I've had mine scanned a few times now, only when eating in. I'm in Ottawa FWIW, people seem to be doing it mostly right here. Kind of annoying that I have to show my ID too, but luckily they accept an OHIP card as ID, saves having to find my passport.

Re: Private keys used to sign EU Digital Covid Certificate might have been leaked

#114
post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also shown as valid by the German CovPassCheck app.

Maybe there's a real person named Adolf Hitler? Not from Germany for sure.

Born at January 1st 1900, right)

Re: Private keys used to sign EU Digital Covid Certificate might have been leaked

#115
post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe there's a real person named Adolf Hitler? Not from Germany for sure.

> Not from Germany for sure. Is it illegal to name a child Adolf Hitler in Germany? Serious question, not sarcasm.

it is illegal

Re: Private keys used to sign EU Digital Covid Certificate might have been leaked

#116
post #104

Seems the keys have already been revoked. Doesn't mean it can't leak again, but doesn't seem to be a problem with a leaked key at the moment. Actual source seems to be here: https://rfmirror.com/Thread-TRADING-make-EU-green-pass?page=...

I checked the Hitler code with apps from Latvia, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Iceland and France. The apps for Latvia, Luxembourg and Switzerland say OK, the one for France says "OK but fraudulent", the one for Iceland says no. From the article it looks like the Italian app also says no. Not revoked everywhere it seems. Also, the French app seems to check against a blacklist, so it is possible that only the Hitler code i…

The Austrian app is also satisfied.

Re: Private keys used to sign EU Digital Covid Certificate might have been leaked

#117
post #89

https://g.nh.ee/images/pix/1200x0/lYFSVUXJ5XY/1d2e261794d4d3... This QR code proves Adolf Hitler has received 2 doses of Pfizer vaccine. At the moment you can still use the Estonian app to verify this ( https://kontroll.digilugu.ee ). Probably this specific cert will be revoked soon in all the apps. But the cat is out of the bag. Everyone's grandparents will need to do the certificate retrieval dance again, which is…

Personally I think it is unethical not to leak it. Technology is the best way to fight surveillance-oppression.

Re: Private keys used to sign EU Digital Covid Certificate might have been leaked

#118
post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Not from Germany for sure. Is it illegal to name a child Adolf Hitler in Germany? Serious question, not sarcasm.

it is illegal

It strikes me as one of those things that society is perfectly happy self-regulating

Re: Private keys used to sign EU Digital Covid Certificate might have been leaked

#119
What I read was they were seeing fake certificates - but these could be created by compromising the vax registration application and certificate download process.

It could be done by compromising a vaccine clinic tablet and issuing new records into the main WHO CoVAX record database under arbitrary names, and then collecting the fake passport image from the web interface citizens use.

I don't think you need to compromise the root certificate or signing keys to do this, there are easier ways. (But if I could put in a request for a Josef K., and an A. Solzhenitsyn novelty certificate, it would be a nice to have on my phone.)

Re: Private keys used to sign EU Digital Covid Certificate might have been leaked

#120

Seems the keys have already been revoked. Doesn't mean it can't leak again, but doesn't seem to be a problem with a leaked key at the moment. Actual source seems to be here: https://rfmirror.com/Thread-TRADING-make-EU-green-pass?page=...

Nobody on this forum provided any kind of verification that they own the private key. It is way more likely that a rogue doctor sells certificates to unvaccinated people (which we know happens) than that the private key leaked, so let's not jump into conclusions here.
Post reply on HN