Gentoo: openssl timing based attack vulnerability
Summary
- --------------------------------------------------------------------- GENTOO LINUX SECURITY ANNOUNCEMENT 200302-10 - --------------------------------------------------------------------- DATE : 2003-02-20 17:28 UTC
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From advisory:
"The attack assumes that multiple SSL or TLS connections involve a common fixed plaintext block, such as a password. An active attacker can substitute specifically made-up ciphertext blocks for blocks sent by legitimate SSL/TLS parties and measure the time until a response arrives: SSL/TLS includes data authentication to ensure that such modified ciphertext blocks will be rejected by the peer (and the connection aborted), but the attacker may be able to use timing observations to distinguish between two different error cases, namely block cipher padding errors and MAC verification errors. This is sufficient for an adaptive attack that finally can obtain the complete plaintext b...Read the Full Advisory