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This PR closes OWASP/mastg#2589

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@sydseter sydseter changed the title Fixes https://github.com/OWASP/mastg/issues/2589a Fixes OWASP/mastg#2589 [MASWE-0025] Weak Signature Jul 15, 2025
sydseter and others added 4 commits July 15, 2025 13:42
Co-authored-by: Carlos Holguera <perezholguera@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Carlos Holguera <perezholguera@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Carlos Holguera <perezholguera@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Carlos Holguera <perezholguera@gmail.com>
@sydseter sydseter requested a review from cpholguera July 16, 2025 10:11
@cpholguera cpholguera requested a review from Diolor October 27, 2025 13:40
Comment on lines 27 to 28
- **Loss of Integrity and authenticity**: Signature forgery may allow the attacker to compromise the integrity and authenticity of the data by signing the data on behalf of another entity.
- **Loss of accountability**: Signature forgery allows for plausible deniability and diminishes accountability.
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  1. I would add confidentiality: asymmetric algos also ensure it
  2. I would structure the existing into: integrity (that data being accessed is intact and as expected) and non-repudiation (authenticity - that an action came from a user). Accountability is closer to logging users' actions, indeed, to place.

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  1. Sure, but let's ensure that MASWE-0025 only applies to weak signatures to ensure integrity, non-repudiation and authenticity.
  2. A digital signature inherently establishes authenticity (who sent it), integrity (that it hasn't been tampered with), and non-repudiation. Logging is a separate concern. I have divided the section into three.

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Better?

sydseter and others added 6 commits November 3, 2025 09:34
Co-authored-by: Dionysis Lorentzos <ddl449@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Dionysis Lorentzos <ddl449@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Dionysis Lorentzos <ddl449@gmail.com>
Clarified impact statements regarding signature forgery.
Corrected capitalization and punctuation in the impact section.
@sydseter sydseter requested a review from Diolor November 7, 2025 14:08
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daiane-galvao commented Nov 12, 2025

Hi everyone, @Diolor @sydseter
I’m still new to this topic, but while contributing to a project in the banking sector, we identified an opportunity to strengthen digital signature generation by binding signatures to device identity and contextual data.

For mobile clients that generate signatures, including semantic context such as operation type, timestamp, nonce, and content hash helps ensure Proof of Possession (only the legitimate device, can produce the signature) and non-repudiation (the signature is cryptographically tied to a specific device and operation).

I believe this could complement the current Mitigations section by emphasizing secure key binding and contextual signing practices. WDYT ?

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sydseter commented Nov 12, 2025

@daiane-galvao Absolutely, we do that as well, but, for us at least, it's done through binding the user's session to the private key on sign-in to our IDP. This issue, however, is about mobile application security weaknesses.
OWASP ASVS may cover this concern on the IDP and API side. See 4.1.5: https://github.com/OWASP/ASVS/blob/master/5.0/en/0x13-V4-API-and-Web-Service.md#v41-generic-web-service-security

But there is a need for clear recommendations regarding mobile clients and their role as OAuth clients as well (e.g ASVS 5.0: https://github.com/OWASP/ASVS/blob/master/5.0/en/0x19-V10-OAuth-and-OIDC.md#v102-oauth-client ).

There is a MASTG document that talks about JWT tokens, briefly, and I believe your comment is relevant there:
https://github.com/OWASP/mastg/blob/master/Document/0x04e-Testing-Authentication-and-Session-Management.md#general-assumptions

First priority now is MASTG 2.0, so even though I personally also feel solutions like Private Key JWT should be considered for mobile application authentication architecture, it won't be prioritized straight away for MASTG.

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@daiane-galvao despite that. We do welcome any contributions, so feel free to edit the linked files and keep providing feedback and suggestions for MASWE or MASTG tickets/open PRs.

Of course feel free to open discussions or issues.

https://mas.owasp.org/contributing/1_How_Can_You_Contribute/

Thank you.

@cpholguera cpholguera requested a review from Copilot November 15, 2025 12:52
Copilot finished reviewing on behalf of cpholguera November 15, 2025 12:53
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Pull Request Overview

This PR converts MASWE-0025 from placeholder status to a fully documented weakness entry. The document now provides comprehensive guidance on improper generation of digital signatures.

Key changes:

  • Updated title from "Improper Generation of Cryptographic Signatures" to "Improper Generation of Digital Signatures"
  • Changed status from "placeholder" to "new"
  • Added complete documentation including Overview, Impact, Modes of Introduction, and Mitigations sections

💡 Add Copilot custom instructions for smarter, more guided reviews. Learn how to get started.

sydseter and others added 4 commits November 16, 2025 09:58
Co-authored-by: Copilot <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Carlos Holguera <perezholguera@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Carlos Holguera <perezholguera@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Carlos Holguera <perezholguera@gmail.com>
sydseter and others added 3 commits November 16, 2025 10:03
Co-authored-by: Carlos Holguera <perezholguera@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Carlos Holguera <perezholguera@gmail.com>
@sydseter sydseter requested a review from cpholguera November 16, 2025 10:10
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@Diolor could you please take another look? We added a couple of changes.

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[MASWE-0025] Weak Signature

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