Vulnerability Note VU#520586

OpenSSL TLS handshake Denial of Service

Original Release date: 30 May 2008 | Last revised: 30 May 2008

Overview

A vulnerability exists in OpenSSL that may allow a remote attacker to cause a denial of service.

Description

OpenSSL contains a vulnerability in the way specially crafted TLS handshake packets are handled that may result in a denial of service. According to OpenSSL Security Advisory [28-Mar-2008]:

... if the 'Server Key exchange message' is omitted from a TLS handshake in OpenSSL 0.9.8f and OpenSSL 0.9.8g. If a client connects to a malicious server with particular cipher suites, the server could cause the client to crash.

Note that this issue may affect OpenSSL versions prior to 0.9.8h.

Impact

A remote, unauthorized attacker may be able to cause a denial of service.

Solution

Upgrade or Apply Patch
OpenSSL has issued an upgrade and a patch to address this issue. See OpenSSL Security Advisory [28-Mar-2008] for more information. OpenSSL is included in various Linux and UNIX distributions. Please consult the relevant documentation of your distribution to obtain the appropriate updates.

Systems Affected (Learn More)

VendorStatusDate NotifiedDate Updated
OpenSSLAffected-30 May 2008
If you are a vendor and your product is affected, let us know.

CVSS Metrics (Learn More)

Group Score Vector
Base N/A N/A
Temporal N/A N/A
Environmental N/A N/A

References

Credit

This issue was reported in OpenSSL Security Advisory [28-Mar-2008]. OpenSSL credits Codenomicon for reporting these issues.

This document was written by Chris Taschner.

Other Information

  • CVE IDs: CVE-2008-1672
  • Date Public: 28 May 2008
  • Date First Published: 30 May 2008
  • Date Last Updated: 30 May 2008
  • Severity Metric: 14.70
  • Document Revision: 8

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