CVE-2018-11054 in RSA BSAFE Micro Edition Suite
Summary
by MITRE
RSA BSAFE Micro Edition Suite, version 4.1.6, contains an integer overflow vulnerability. A remote attacker could use maliciously constructed ASN.1 data to potentially cause a Denial Of Service.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/06/2023
The RSA BSAFE Micro Edition Suite version 4.1.6 contains a critical integer overflow vulnerability that poses significant security risks to systems relying on this cryptographic library. This vulnerability specifically affects the ASN.1 parsing functionality within the suite, creating a potential denial of service condition when processing malformed input data. The flaw exists in the handling of integer values during the decoding process of ASN.1 structured data, where improper bounds checking allows integer overflows to occur. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-190 category of integer overflow, which represents one of the most common and dangerous classes of software vulnerabilities in cryptographic implementations.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs when a remote attacker crafts maliciously constructed ASN.1 data packets that trigger integer overflow conditions during parsing operations. When the vulnerable library processes such malformed data, the integer overflow can cause the application to crash or enter an unstable state, resulting in a denial of service condition that affects legitimate users. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because ASN.1 is a fundamental standard for encoding data structures in cryptographic protocols, making this flaw potentially widespread across systems that depend on RSA BSAFE for secure communications. The integer overflow manifests during the parsing of length fields or other integer values within the ASN.1 structure, where values exceeding the maximum representable integer cause unexpected behavior in the application's memory management.
From an operational standpoint, this vulnerability creates substantial risk for organizations using RSA BSAFE Micro Edition Suite in production environments, particularly those handling sensitive data or providing critical services. The remote nature of the attack means that adversaries can exploit this vulnerability without requiring local access to the target system, making it especially dangerous for networked applications. The denial of service impact can result in complete service disruption, potentially affecting business operations and user access to critical systems. Organizations may experience downtime, loss of productivity, and potential reputational damage when systems become unavailable due to this vulnerability. The impact extends beyond simple service interruption, as the vulnerability could be leveraged as part of larger attack campaigns or used to mask more sophisticated exploits.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on immediate remediation through official patches provided by RSA Security, as well as implementing network-level protections to filter potentially malicious ASN.1 data. Organizations should conduct thorough vulnerability assessments to identify all systems utilizing the affected library version and prioritize patch deployment across their infrastructure. Network segmentation and intrusion detection systems can help detect and prevent exploitation attempts by monitoring for malformed ASN.1 traffic patterns. Additionally, implementing proper input validation and bounds checking in applications that interface with the RSA BSAFE library can provide additional defensive layers. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date cryptographic libraries and following security best practices for software supply chain management. Organizations should also consider migrating to more modern and actively maintained cryptographic libraries that have better security track records and regular update cycles. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for denial of service attacks and represents a classic example of how cryptographic library flaws can impact entire application ecosystems.