CVE-2017-10668 in OSCI Transport Library
Summary
by MITRE
A Padding Oracle exists in OSCI-Transport 1.2 as used in OSCI Transport Library 1.6.1 (Java) and OSCI Transport Library 1.6 (.NET). Under an MITM condition within the OSCI infrastructure, an attacker needs to send crafted protocol messages to analyse the CBC mode padding in order to decrypt the transport encryption.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/21/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-10668 represents a critical padding oracle flaw within the OSCI-Transport 1.2 implementation across both Java and .NET versions of the OSCI Transport Library. This weakness fundamentally undermines the security of encrypted communications by exploiting the cryptographic padding validation mechanism. The vulnerability specifically affects versions 1.6.1 for Java and 1.6 for .NET, creating a persistent risk across multiple platform implementations of the transport library. The padding oracle attack leverages the predictable behavior of the decryption process when encountering invalid padding, enabling attackers to systematically determine the plaintext content without possessing the encryption keys.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability requires an attacker to operate within a man-in-the-middle position relative to the OSCI infrastructure, positioning themselves to intercept and manipulate communication flows between legitimate parties. The attack methodology involves sending carefully crafted protocol messages designed to trigger specific padding validation responses from the target system. Through iterative analysis of these responses, attackers can systematically work backwards through the cipher text blocks to reconstruct the original plaintext data. This process exploits the inherent design flaw in how the system handles and responds to padding validation failures during the CBC (Cipher Block Chaining) mode decryption process.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data confidentiality breaches, as it enables attackers to potentially access sensitive information transmitted through the OSCI infrastructure. The vulnerability affects the fundamental security model of the transport layer, undermining the integrity of encrypted communications and potentially exposing business-critical data, authentication credentials, or proprietary information. The attack does not require direct access to encryption keys or system compromise, making it particularly dangerous as it can be executed remotely through network interception. This capability significantly increases the attack surface and reduces the overall security posture of systems relying on the vulnerable transport library implementation.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2017-10668 must focus on immediate implementation of patched versions of the OSCI Transport Library, with particular attention to upgrading from the vulnerable 1.6.1 Java and 1.6 .NET versions. Organizations should implement network monitoring to detect anomalous protocol message patterns that may indicate padding oracle attacks in progress. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-129, which addresses improper handling of padding in cryptographic operations, and maps to attack techniques in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under credential access and defense evasion categories. Security teams should also consider implementing additional cryptographic validation measures and ensure that all communications within the OSCI infrastructure utilize more secure encryption protocols that do not suffer from similar padding oracle vulnerabilities. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to verify that the patched implementations properly address the underlying cryptographic weaknesses and that no other similar vulnerabilities exist within the broader infrastructure ecosystem.