CVE-2018-12404 in Fujitsu M10-1
Summary
by MITRE
A cached side channel attack during handshakes using RSA encryption could allow for the decryption of encrypted content. This is a variant of the Adaptive Chosen Ciphertext attack (AKA Bleichenbacher attack) and affects all NSS versions prior to NSS 3.41.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/13/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-12404 represents a critical cryptographic weakness in the Network Security Services (NSS) library that enables attackers to perform cached side channel attacks during SSL/TLS handshakes. This flaw specifically targets the RSA encryption implementation within NSS versions prior to 3.41, creating a pathway for adversaries to exploit timing variations and cache behaviors to decrypt sensitive communications. The attack leverages the inherent timing differences in cryptographic operations to infer information about encrypted data, making it particularly dangerous in environments where secure communications are paramount.
This vulnerability constitutes a sophisticated implementation flaw that falls under the category of adaptive chosen ciphertext attacks, more specifically aligning with the well-documented Bleichenbacher attack pattern that has been studied extensively in cryptographic security research. The attack operates by exploiting the way NSS handles RSA decryption operations during handshake processes, where timing variations in response processing can be measured and analyzed to reconstruct the original plaintext. The cached nature of this attack means that even if the initial attack window has closed, the attacker can leverage cached information from previous interactions to extend the attack surface and increase success rates.
The operational impact of CVE-2018-12404 extends beyond simple data decryption, as it fundamentally undermines the confidentiality guarantees provided by SSL/TLS encryption protocols. Attackers can potentially intercept and decrypt communications between clients and servers, compromising sensitive information such as login credentials, personal data, financial transactions, and proprietary communications. This vulnerability affects a wide range of applications and systems that rely on NSS for secure communications, including web browsers, email clients, and server applications that implement SSL/TLS security protocols. The attack can be particularly devastating in enterprise environments where sensitive data flows through systems using vulnerable NSS implementations.
Organizations should prioritize immediate patching of all systems running NSS versions prior to 3.41 to remediate this vulnerability. The mitigation strategy involves upgrading to NSS 3.41 or later versions that contain fixed implementations of RSA decryption routines with improved timing resistance mechanisms. Security teams should also consider implementing additional monitoring and detection capabilities to identify potential exploitation attempts, as the attack may be difficult to detect through conventional network monitoring tools. The vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1552.004 for unsecured credentials and CWE-310 for cryptographic weaknesses, emphasizing the need for comprehensive security measures that address both immediate patching requirements and long-term cryptographic implementation hardening.