Ron Rivest RC4 Algorithm Pseudo-Random Character Generation cryptographic issue

CVSS Meta Temp Score
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CTI Interest Score
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5.9$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, has been found in Ron Rivest RC4 Algorithm. Affected by this vulnerability is an unknown functionality of the component Pseudo-Random Character Generation. Performing a manipulation results in cryptographic issue. This vulnerability was named CVE-2013-2566. The attack may be initiated remotely. In addition, an exploit is available. This vulnerability has a historic impact because of its background and how it was received. It is advised to substitute the affected component with an alternative.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Ron Rivest RC4 Algorithm (affected version unknown). It has been classified as critical. This affects an unknown functionality of the component Pseudo-Random Character Generation. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a cryptographic issue vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-310. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, and integrity. The summary by CVE is:

The RC4 algorithm, as used in the TLS protocol and SSL protocol, has many single-byte biases, which makes it easier for remote attackers to conduct plaintext-recovery attacks via statistical analysis of ciphertext in a large number of sessions that use the same plaintext.

The bug was discovered 03/12/2013. The weakness was presented 03/12/2013 by D. J. Bernstein (Paul) with University of Illinois at Chicago & Technische Universiteit Eindhoven as Failures of secret-key cryptography as not defined presentation (Website). The advisory is shared at cr.yp.to. The public release happened without involvement of Ron Rivest. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2013-2566 since 03/14/2013. The exploitability is told to be difficult. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. No form of authentication is needed for exploitation. Technical details are unknown but a public exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 07/09/2019). MITRE ATT&CK project uses the attack technique T1600 for this issue. Due to its background and reception, this vulnerability has a historic impact. The advisory points out:

During RC4 output generation, a wide variety of small biases are introduced into the process, decreasing the expected randomness. In a situation where the same text is encrypted many times (e.g. a cookie for a web application), a context-dependent attacker that intercepts the traffic can infer the plaintext value of the encrypted content.

A public exploit has been developed by D. J. Bernstein and been published immediately after the advisory. The exploit is shared for download at cr.yp.to. It is declared as proof-of-concept. The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 78155 (F5 Networks BIG-IP : TLS/SSL RC4 vulnerability (K14638)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment. It is assigned to the family F5 Networks Local Security Checks and running in the context l. The commercial vulnerability scanner Qualys is able to test this issue with plugin 91499 (Microsoft Azure Stack 1809 Multiple Security Vulnerabilities). OSVDB declares this a more theoretical attack: "As of the date of publication, this attack requires a significant amount of traffic, described as tens of hundreds of million connections. That makes the attack impractical by current standards, but it is expected that with additional research and refinement, this attack can be made more feasible in short time."

Applying a patch is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at hitachi.co.jp. The problem might be mitigated by replacing the product with AEAD TLS as an alternative. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be establishing an alternative product. A possible mitigation has been published 6 months after the disclosure of the vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the databases at Tenable (78155), SecurityFocus (BID 58796†) and OSVDB (91162†). Further details are available at blog.cryptographyengineering.com. See VDB-4431, VDB-10710, VDB-10696 and VDB-10900 for similar entries. Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

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CVSSv4info

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CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 6.2
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 6.1

VulDB Base Score: 6.5
VulDB Temp Score: 6.2
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 5.9
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Exploitinginfo

Class: Cryptographic issue
CWE: CWE-310
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔍
Access: Public
Status: Proof-of-Concept
Author: D. J. Bernstein
Download: 🔍

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Nessus ID: 78155
Nessus Name: F5 Networks BIG-IP : TLS/SSL RC4 vulnerability (K14638)
Nessus File: 🔍
Nessus Risk: 🔍
Nessus Family: 🔍
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Nessus Port: 🔍

OpenVAS ID: 841633
OpenVAS Name: Ubuntu Update for firefox USN-2031-1
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Threat Intelligenceinfo

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Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Alternative
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Patch: hitachi.co.jp
Alternative: AEAD TLS

Timelineinfo

03/12/2013 🔍
03/12/2013 +0 days 🔍
03/12/2013 +0 days 🔍
03/12/2013 +0 days 🔍
03/13/2013 +1 days 🔍
03/14/2013 +1 days 🔍
03/15/2013 +1 days 🔍
08/27/2013 +165 days 🔍
10/10/2014 +409 days 🔍
07/09/2019 +1733 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Advisory: Failures of secret-key cryptography
Researcher: D. J. Bernstein (Paul)
Organization: University of Illinois at Chicago & Technische Universiteit Eindhoven
Status: Not defined
Confirmation: 🔍

CVE: CVE-2013-2566 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2013-2566
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-7953

OVAL: 🔍
IAVM: 🔍

SecurityFocus: 58796 - SSL/TLS RC4 CVE-2013-2566 Information Disclosure Weakness
OSVDB: 91162 - CVE-2013-2566 - RC4 - Plaintext-Recovery Issue

scip Labs: https://www.scip.ch/en/?labs.20161013
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Entryinfo

Created: 03/13/2013 10:47
Updated: 07/09/2019 12:39
Changes: 03/13/2013 10:47 (99), 07/09/2019 12:39 (4)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216:179:103

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