CVE-2014-125055 in easy-scrypt
Summary
by MITRE • 01/09/2023
A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, was found in agnivade easy-scrypt. Affected is the function VerifyPassphrase of the file scrypt.go. The manipulation leads to observable timing discrepancy. Upgrading to version 1.0.0 is able to address this issue. The name of the patch is 477c10cf3b144ddf96526aa09f5fdea613f21812. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component. The identifier of this vulnerability is VDB-217596.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/29/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-125055 represents a significant security weakness in the agnivade easy-scrypt library, specifically within the VerifyPassphrase function located in the scrypt.go file. This timing discrepancy vulnerability arises from the implementation's observable differences in execution time when processing valid versus invalid passphrases, creating a potential avenue for attackers to infer password information through side-channel analysis. The flaw directly impacts the cryptographic security model of the library, which is designed to provide secure password verification through the scrypt algorithm.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the function's non-constant time execution behavior during passphrase verification. When comparing the input passphrase against the stored hash, the function exhibits measurable timing differences that can be exploited by attackers using timing attack methodologies. This type of vulnerability falls under the CWE-203 category of "Observable Behavioral Vulnerability," where the system's behavior reveals information about its internal state. The timing discrepancies allow adversaries to perform statistical analysis and potentially determine the correct passphrase through repeated measurements of verification duration.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple password guessing attacks, as it creates a persistent security risk for any application utilizing the affected library. Systems relying on this library for password verification become susceptible to timing-based attacks that can gradually reveal password strength characteristics or even complete passwords through systematic timing measurements. This vulnerability particularly affects applications implementing password-based authentication where the scrypt algorithm is used for secure credential verification, making it a critical concern for web applications, authentication systems, and any security-sensitive software components.
Security practitioners should immediately implement the recommended upgrade to version 1.0.0 of the agnivade easy-scrypt library, which incorporates the patch identified by the commit hash 477c10cf3b144ddf96526aa09f5fdea613f21812. This upgrade addresses the timing discrepancy issue by ensuring constant-time execution during passphrase verification, eliminating the observable behavioral differences that previously enabled timing attacks. The vulnerability's classification as a timing attack vector aligns with ATT&CK technique T1212, which focuses on exploitation of information leaks through timing discrepancies in cryptographic implementations. Organizations should also consider implementing additional monitoring and validation procedures to detect potential exploitation attempts and verify successful patch deployment across their infrastructure.