CVE-2020-1759 in Ceph Storage
Summary
by MITRE
A vulnerability was found in Red Hat Ceph Storage 4 and Red Hat Openshift Container Storage 4.2 where, A nonce reuse vulnerability was discovered in the secure mode of the messenger v2 protocol, which can allow an attacker to forge auth tags and potentially manipulate the data by leveraging the reuse of a nonce in a session. Messages encrypted using a reused nonce value are susceptible to serious confidentiality and integrity attacks.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/09/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2020-1759 represents a critical cryptographic flaw in the Red Hat Ceph Storage 4 and Red Hat Openshift Container Storage 4.2 platforms. This issue specifically affects the messenger v2 protocol's secure mode implementation where nonce reuse occurs during cryptographic operations. The flaw stems from improper handling of nonce values within the encryption process, creating a scenario where the same nonce value gets reused across multiple encryption operations within a single session. Such behavior fundamentally compromises the security guarantees that should be provided by authenticated encryption schemes, as nonces are specifically designed to be unique values that prevent cryptographic attacks.
The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-327, which addresses the use of weak cryptographic algorithms and improper implementation of cryptographic primitives. The nonce reuse vulnerability directly enables attackers to perform sophisticated cryptanalytic attacks that exploit the mathematical properties of encryption algorithms when the same nonce is used with different plaintexts. In the context of the messenger v2 protocol, this weakness allows an attacker positioned within the network to intercept encrypted messages and potentially forge authentication tags without possessing the cryptographic keys. The impact extends beyond simple data confidentiality breaches, as the ability to manipulate data integrity means attackers can modify stored data in ways that may go undetected by the system's integrity checking mechanisms.
From an operational standpoint, this vulnerability presents a severe risk to storage systems that rely on Ceph and Openshift Container Storage for data management. The attack vector requires network access within the storage cluster's communication domain, making it particularly dangerous in environments where network segmentation is insufficient or compromised. Attackers can leverage this weakness to perform man-in-the-middle attacks, modify stored data, or potentially gain unauthorized access to sensitive information stored within the cluster. The vulnerability's impact is amplified by the fact that it affects the core communication protocol used for data replication and synchronization between storage nodes, potentially leading to data corruption or complete system compromise.
The mitigation strategies for CVE-2020-1759 should focus on immediate protocol-level fixes that ensure nonce uniqueness across all encryption operations. Organizations should implement mandatory protocol updates that enforce proper nonce generation and management within the messenger v2 implementation. Network segmentation and monitoring should be enhanced to detect anomalous communication patterns that might indicate nonce reuse attempts. Additionally, implementing cryptographic key rotation procedures and regular security audits of the storage infrastructure will help identify potential exploitation attempts. The remediation process should also include comprehensive testing of the updated protocol to ensure that the nonce handling mechanism properly enforces uniqueness requirements and that no regression issues have been introduced. According to ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability maps to T1071.004 for application layer protocol usage and T1566 for credential access through network manipulation.