CVE-2004-0163 in Secure Enterprise
Summary
by MITRE
Sygate Secure Enterprise (SSE) 3.5MR3 and earlier does not change the key used to encrypt data, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (resource exhaustion) by capturing a session and repeatedly replaying the session.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/08/2017
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2004-0163 affects Sygate Secure Enterprise version 3.5MR3 and earlier implementations, representing a critical flaw in the cryptographic session management system. This weakness stems from the software's failure to properly rotate encryption keys during active sessions, creating a predictable cryptographic state that can be exploited by malicious actors. The vulnerability resides in the fundamental design of the secure communication protocol implementation within the enterprise security solution, where the encryption key remains static throughout the session lifecycle rather than being periodically refreshed as required by standard cryptographic best practices.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through a replay attack vector where an attacker captures a legitimate session and then repeatedly reuses the same encrypted data packets. This attack leverages the static key nature of the encryption mechanism to perform resource exhaustion attacks against the target system. When the system processes these repeated session replays, it consumes excessive computational resources and memory allocation, ultimately leading to denial of service conditions that can disrupt legitimate user access to the secured network resources. The flaw operates at the transport layer protocol level, specifically targeting the session encryption and authentication mechanisms that are supposed to ensure secure communication channels.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially compromise the entire security infrastructure of organizations relying on Sygate Secure Enterprise solutions. Attackers can systematically exhaust system resources through repeated replay attacks, causing cascading failures that may affect network availability and business continuity. This vulnerability particularly threatens enterprise environments where continuous network access is critical, as the denial of service can persist for extended periods until manual intervention occurs. The attack requires minimal sophistication to execute, making it particularly dangerous as it can be performed by adversaries with basic networking knowledge and readily available tools.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2004-0163 should focus on immediate software updates and patches provided by Sygate to address the key rotation flaw. Organizations must implement robust monitoring systems to detect unusual traffic patterns and session replay activities that may indicate exploitation attempts. Network segmentation and access controls should be strengthened to limit the potential impact of successful attacks. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-310, which addresses cryptographic weaknesses in key management, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1498 related to resource exhaustion attacks. Additionally, implementing proper session timeout mechanisms and dynamic key generation protocols would prevent similar vulnerabilities in future deployments, ensuring compliance with security standards such as NIST SP 800-57 for cryptographic key management and ISO/IEC 27001 for information security controls.