CVE-2015-0533 in RSA BSAFE Micro Edition Suite
Summary
by MITRE
EMC RSA BSAFE Micro Edition Suite (MES) 4.0.x before 4.0.8 and 4.1.x before 4.1.3 and RSA BSAFE SSL-C 2.8.9 and earlier allow remote SSL servers to conduct ECDHE-to-ECDH downgrade attacks and trigger a loss of forward secrecy by omitting the ServerKeyExchange message, a similar issue to CVE-2014-3572.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/12/2022
The vulnerability described in CVE-2015-0533 represents a critical weakness in the cryptographic implementation of EMC RSA BSAFE Micro Edition Suite and RSA BSAFE SSL-C products that affects secure communications protocols. This vulnerability specifically targets the elliptic curve Diffie-Hellman key exchange mechanism, which is fundamental to establishing secure encrypted connections in modern cryptographic systems. The flaw allows remote attackers to manipulate the SSL/TLS handshake process and deliberately downgrade the security level of encrypted communications, effectively compromising the forward secrecy properties that are essential for protecting past communications from future compromises.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the improper handling of the ServerKeyExchange message during the SSL/TLS handshake process. When SSL servers implement the ECDHE (Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman Ephemeral) key exchange mechanism, they are expected to send a ServerKeyExchange message that contains the server's ephemeral key parameters. However, in affected versions of the RSA BSAFE libraries, attackers can manipulate the server to omit this critical message, forcing the client and server to fall back to a less secure ECDH (Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman) key exchange method. This downgrade attack directly violates the security assumptions of forward secrecy, which relies on ephemeral key exchanges to ensure that even if long-term keys are compromised in the future, past communications remain protected.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple cryptographic weakness to represent a significant threat to secure communications infrastructure. Systems utilizing affected versions of the RSA BSAFE libraries become vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks where adversaries can intercept and potentially decrypt communications that were previously considered secure. The vulnerability particularly affects environments where forward secrecy is a critical security requirement, such as financial services, government communications, healthcare systems, and any organization handling sensitive data requiring long-term confidentiality. The similarity to CVE-2014-3572 indicates this represents a well-documented pattern of implementation flaws in SSL/TLS libraries that compromise the integrity of key exchange mechanisms.
Organizations implementing affected RSA BSAFE libraries face substantial risk exposure from this vulnerability, as it allows attackers to systematically weaken the cryptographic security of communications without requiring sophisticated attack techniques. The downgrade attack can be executed automatically during SSL/TLS handshakes, making it particularly dangerous in environments where automated connections are common. Security professionals should recognize this vulnerability as part of the broader category of cryptographic protocol flaws that affect the integrity of key exchange mechanisms, with implications that extend to the overall security posture of systems relying on SSL/TLS encryption. The vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1071.001 for Application Layer Protocol: Web Protocols and CWE-327 for Use of a Broken or Risky Cryptographic Algorithm, highlighting both the implementation weakness and the broader security implications of compromised cryptographic practices.
The recommended mitigation strategy involves immediate upgrading of affected RSA BSAFE libraries to versions 4.0.8 or later for the Micro Edition Suite, or 4.1.3 or later for the 4.1.x releases, as well as updating RSA BSAFE SSL-C to version 2.8.9 or later. Organizations should also implement network monitoring to detect potential downgrade attacks and consider deploying additional security controls such as certificate pinning and strict SSL/TLS protocol enforcement. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date cryptographic libraries and the potential consequences of legacy implementations that fail to properly handle cryptographic protocol negotiation, particularly in environments where security compliance and data protection are paramount requirements.