CVE-2004-2761

Exp

The MD5 Message-Digest Algorithm is not collision resistant, which makes it easier for context-dependent attackers to conduct spoofing attacks, as demonstrated by attacks on the use of MD5 in the signature algorithm of an X.509 certificate.

Published: 2009-01-05 Last update: 2026-05-28 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2004-2761 is rated High Exploit Risk (86.8/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 8.46%, 93th percentile). Core evidence: 1 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Mandatory action: Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2004-2761

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
24807 exploit_db edb 2004-12-07 Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2004-2761

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-05 8.25% 8.46% +0.21%
2 2026-05-29 6.23% 8.25% +2.02%
3 2026-01-19 6.23%

Full EPSS history (20 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2004-2761

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.8 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
3.9 5.9 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
5.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
10.0 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2004-2761

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2004-2761

GHSA-2q4p-93p8-q2j6 · Severity: medium — The MD5 Message-Digest Algorithm is not collision resistant, which makes it easier for context...

OS Trackers for CVE-2004-2761

vendor priority summary link
redhat medium https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2004-2761
ubuntu low CVE-2004-2761 low priority: Ubuntu including 2 source packages (firefox, nss), 10 status rows across 5 suites (dapper, gutsy, hardy, intrepid, upstream): released 4, DNE 2, needs-triage 2, not-affected 2. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2004-2761

NVD evaluator notes for CVE-2004-2761

Impact: There are four significant mitigating factors. 1) Most enterprise-class certificates, such as VeriSign’s Extended Validation SSL Certificates use the still secure SHA-1 hash function. 2) Certificates already issued with MD5 signatures are not at risk. The exploit only affects new certificate acquisitions. 3) CAs are quickly moving to replace MD5 with SHA-1. For example, VeriSign was planning to phase out MD5 by the end of January 2009. The date was pushed up due to the December proof of concept. On December 31, 2008, RapidSSL certificates shipped with SHA-1 digital signatures. 4)The researchers did not release the under-the-hood specifics of how the exploit was executed. Source - http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/it-security/the-new-md5-ssl-exploit-is-not-the-end-of-civilization-as-we-know-it/?tag=nl.e036

Vendor comments (NVD) for CVE-2004-2761

  • Red Hat (2009-01-07T00:00:00)

    Please see http://kbase.redhat.com/faq/docs/DOC-15379

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2004-2761

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
ietf md5 cpe:2.3:a:ietf:md5:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2004-2761

URL Tags
http://blog.mozilla.com/security/2008/12/30/md5-weaknesses-could-lead-to-certificate-forgery/
http://blogs.technet.com/swi/archive/2008/12/30/information-regarding-md5-collisions-problem.aspx
http://secunia.com/advisories/33826
http://secunia.com/advisories/34281
http://secunia.com/advisories/42181
http://securityreason.com/securityalert/4866
http://securitytracker.com/id?1024697
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/products_security_response09186a0080a5d24a.html
http://www.doxpara.com/research/md5/md5_someday.pdf
http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/836068 Third Party Advisory US Government Resource
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/961509.mspx Mitigation Patch Vendor Advisory
http://www.phreedom.org/research/rogue-ca/
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/499685/100/0/threaded
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/33065
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/usn-740-1
http://www.win.tue.nl/hashclash/SoftIntCodeSign/
http://www.win.tue.nl/hashclash/rogue-ca/
https://blogs.verisign.com/ssl-blog/2008/12/on_md5_vulnerabilities_and_mit.php
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=648886 Issue Tracking
https://h20566.www2.hpe.com/portal/site/hpsc/public/kb/docDisplay?docId=emr_na-c05289935
https://h20566.www2.hpe.com/portal/site/hpsc/public/kb/docDisplay?docId=emr_na-c05336888
https://ics-cert.us-cert.gov/advisories/ICSMA-18-058-02
https://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2010-0837.html
https://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2010-0838.html
https://support.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docLocale=en_US&docId=emr_na-hpesbhf03814en_us
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-package-announce/2009-February/msg00096.html
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