CVE-2014-0625 in RSA BSAFE SSL-J
Summary
by MITRE
The SSLSocket implementation in the (1) JSAFE and (2) JSSE APIs in EMC RSA BSAFE SSL-J 5.x before 5.1.3 and 6.x before 6.0.2 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption) by triggering application-data processing during the TLS handshake, a time at which the data is internally buffered.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/27/2018
The vulnerability described in CVE-2014-0625 represents a critical denial of service weakness within the SSL/TLS implementation of EMC RSA BSAFE SSL-J software libraries. This flaw exists in both the JSAFE and JSSE APIs across multiple versions of the BSAFE SSL-J product, specifically affecting releases prior to 5.1.3 and 6.0.2. The vulnerability stems from improper handling of application data during the TLS handshake process, creating a condition where memory consumption can be artificially inflated through carefully crafted network traffic. The issue is particularly concerning because it occurs during the initial TLS handshake phase, which is a fundamental and expected part of secure communication establishment.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability lies in how the SSLSocket implementation manages internal buffering of application data during the TLS handshake sequence. When remote attackers send application data to a vulnerable system during this critical phase, the implementation incorrectly buffers this data internally without proper bounds checking or memory management controls. This behavior creates a memory exhaustion condition where the application consumes increasing amounts of memory until the system becomes unresponsive or crashes. The vulnerability specifically targets the timing of data processing during handshake negotiation, where the system expects to process only handshake-specific messages but instead encounters application data that triggers unnecessary buffering operations. This flaw aligns with CWE-400, which categorizes improper resource management and memory handling issues in security contexts.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents significant risks to systems relying on EMC RSA BSAFE SSL-J for secure communications. Attackers can exploit this weakness by establishing TLS connections and immediately sending application data during the handshake phase, causing memory consumption to spiral out of control. The impact extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially affecting system stability and availability, particularly in environments where memory resources are constrained or where multiple connections are handled simultaneously. The vulnerability affects both JSAFE and JSSE API implementations, broadening its potential impact across different application architectures that utilize these security libraries. Organizations using affected versions may experience cascading failures as system resources become exhausted, leading to complete service unavailability and potential data loss in mission-critical applications.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate patching of affected EMC RSA BSAFE SSL-J installations to versions 5.1.3 or 6.0.2, which contain the necessary fixes to properly handle application data during TLS handshakes. Network administrators should also implement monitoring solutions to detect unusual memory consumption patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. Additional defensive measures include configuring firewalls to limit connection rates and implementing connection pooling strategies to prevent resource exhaustion attacks. Organizations should also consider implementing intrusion detection systems that can identify and block malicious traffic patterns associated with this specific attack vector. The fix addresses the core buffering issue by ensuring that application data received during the handshake phase is properly validated and processed without causing unbounded memory allocation. This vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper resource management in cryptographic implementations and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499, which covers resource exhaustion attacks targeting system availability.