CVE-2019-3732 in RSA BSAFE Crypto-C Micro Edition
Summary
by MITRE
RSA BSAFE Crypto-C Micro Edition, versions prior to 4.0.5.3 (in 4.0.x) and versions prior to 4.1.3.3 (in 4.1.x), and RSA Micro Edition Suite, versions prior to 4.0.11 (in 4.0.x) versions prior to 4.1.6.1 (in 4.1.x) and versions prior to 4.3.3 (4.2.x and 4.3.x) are vulnerable to an Information Exposure Through Timing Discrepancy. A malicious remote user could potentially exploit this vulnerability to extract information leaving data at risk of exposure.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/29/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-3732 affects RSA BSAFE Crypto-C Micro Edition and RSA Micro Edition Suite implementations across multiple version ranges, representing a critical information exposure flaw that exploits timing discrepancies in cryptographic operations. This vulnerability resides within the cryptographic libraries that form the foundation of secure communications in embedded systems and networked applications. The flaw manifests when cryptographic operations such as key validation or signature verification exhibit measurable timing differences based on the input data, creating observable patterns that adversaries can exploit to infer sensitive information. The vulnerability impacts systems that rely on these cryptographic libraries for secure data transmission and authentication processes, potentially affecting a wide range of embedded devices, network appliances, and security-critical applications where timing-based side-channel attacks can be effectively mounted.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the inconsistent execution times observed during cryptographic computations within the affected RSA libraries. When performing operations like modular exponentiation or elliptic curve point multiplication, the cryptographic implementation does not maintain constant-time execution characteristics. This timing variation occurs because the algorithms make conditional branches or memory access patterns that depend on the values being processed, allowing attackers to measure execution time differences and correlate these with specific input values. The vulnerability specifically affects the cryptographic primitives used in digital signatures, key exchange protocols, and authentication mechanisms, where timing discrepancies can reveal information about private keys, intermediate computation states, or other sensitive cryptographic data. This behavior aligns with the common class of side-channel attacks categorized under CWE-385, which deals with timing side channels and information leakage through timing variations.
The operational impact of CVE-2019-3732 extends beyond simple information disclosure, potentially enabling sophisticated attacks that can compromise the entire security posture of affected systems. A remote attacker with the ability to measure execution timing can perform statistical analysis to recover private keys, cryptographic parameters, or other sensitive data through techniques such as differential timing attacks or correlation attacks. The vulnerability affects systems where these cryptographic libraries are integrated into network protocols, authentication systems, or secure communication channels, making the exposure particularly dangerous for applications handling sensitive data such as financial transactions, personal identification information, or classified communications. The timing discrepancies can be exploited even over network connections, making this vulnerability particularly concerning for distributed systems and cloud-based services that rely on these cryptographic implementations. Organizations using affected versions may experience unauthorized data access, key compromise, and potential system infiltration through the exploitation of this timing-based information leakage.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2019-3732 require immediate patching of affected systems with updated versions of the RSA BSAFE and Micro Edition Suite libraries that address the timing discrepancy issues. The recommended approach involves upgrading to versions 4.0.5.3 or later for the 4.0.x series, 4.1.3.3 or later for the 4.1.x series, and 4.1.6.1 or later for the 4.0.x series, with corresponding updates for the 4.2.x and 4.3.x releases. Organizations should conduct comprehensive inventory assessments to identify all systems utilizing the vulnerable cryptographic libraries and implement coordinated upgrade schedules to minimize service disruption. Additionally, system administrators should consider implementing monitoring solutions to detect unusual timing patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts, and should review existing security configurations to ensure that timing-based side-channel attacks are properly mitigated through constant-time algorithm implementations. This vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date cryptographic implementations and following security best practices as outlined in the ATT&CK framework under the T1074.001 technique for data staging and information gathering through timing-based side-channel attacks. Organizations should also consider implementing additional security controls such as network segmentation, access controls, and regular security assessments to reduce the overall attack surface and prevent exploitation of similar timing-based vulnerabilities in their cryptographic implementations.