CVE-2020-35166 in BSAFE Crypto-C Micro Edition
Summary
by MITRE • 07/12/2022
Dell BSAFE Crypto-C Micro Edition, versions before 4.1.5, and Dell BSAFE Micro Edition Suite, versions before 4.6, contain an Observable Timing Discrepancy Vulnerability.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/17/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2020-35166 represents a critical timing discrepancy issue within Dell BSAFE Crypto-C Micro Edition and Dell BSAFE Micro Edition Suite cryptographic libraries. This weakness manifests in implementations that fail to maintain consistent execution times across different input conditions, creating observable timing variations that can be exploited by attackers to infer sensitive information. The vulnerability affects versions prior to 4.1.5 for Crypto-C Micro Edition and before 4.6 for the Micro Edition Suite, indicating a widespread impact across multiple cryptographic components within Dell's security framework. Such timing variations typically occur in cryptographic operations where the execution time depends on the input data or key material being processed, creating potential attack vectors for side-channel analysis.
The technical flaw underlying CVE-2020-35166 falls under the category of timing discrepancies that can be classified as CWE-320, which specifically addresses weaknesses related to the use of insecure or weak cryptographic algorithms. This vulnerability operates at the intersection of cryptanalysis and implementation security, where attackers can observe and measure the time differences between cryptographic operations to deduce information about secret keys or plaintext data. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it affects fundamental cryptographic operations that are essential for secure communications and data protection. When cryptographic functions exhibit timing variations, these differences can be measured and analyzed to determine characteristics of the underlying data, potentially leading to key recovery attacks or plaintext inference.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure to potentially compromise entire cryptographic systems that rely on these Dell BSAFE libraries. Attackers could exploit this timing discrepancy to perform cache timing attacks, branch prediction attacks, or other side-channel techniques that leverage the predictable variations in execution time. The vulnerability affects systems that depend on these cryptographic libraries for secure data handling, authentication mechanisms, and encryption operations, potentially allowing adversaries to reconstruct sensitive information from seemingly normal cryptographic processing. Organizations utilizing these libraries in production environments face significant risk of data breaches, authentication bypasses, and compromise of encrypted communications, particularly in scenarios where the same cryptographic operations are performed repeatedly under varying conditions.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2020-35166 require immediate patching of affected Dell BSAFE libraries to versions 4.1.5 or later for Crypto-C Micro Edition and 4.6 or later for the Micro Edition Suite. Security teams should conduct comprehensive inventory assessments to identify all systems utilizing these cryptographic components and prioritize remediation efforts accordingly. The implementation of constant-time cryptographic algorithms should be enforced across all affected systems, ensuring that cryptographic operations maintain consistent execution times regardless of input data. Organizations should also consider implementing additional monitoring and detection capabilities to identify potential exploitation attempts through timing-based analysis. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving credential access through side-channel attacks and privilege escalation via cryptographic weakness exploitation. Regular security assessments and vulnerability management programs should include verification of cryptographic library versions and implementation of proper timing attack mitigations to prevent similar issues from arising in future deployments.