SB2019120803 - Private key recovery in crypto++
Published: December 8, 2019 Updated: January 3, 2021
Security Bulletin ID
SB2019120803
Severity
Low
Patch available
YES
Number of vulnerabilities
1
Exploitation vector
Local access
Highest impact
Information disclosure
Breakdown by Severity
- Low
- Medium
- High
- Critical
Description
This security bulletin contains information about 1 security vulnerability.
1) Covert Timing Channel (CVE-ID: CVE-2019-14318)
The vulnerability allows a local user to gain access to sensitive information.
The vulnerability exists due to scalar multiplication in ecp.cpp (prime field curves, small leakage) and algebra.cpp (binary field curves, large leakage) is not constant time and leaks the bit length of the scalar among other information within the timing side channel in ECDSA signature generation. A local user with ability to measure the duration of hundreds to thousands of signing operations can compute the private key used.
Remediation
Install update from vendor's website.
References
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-08/msg00066.html
- https://eprint.iacr.org/2011/232.pdf
- https://github.com/weidai11/cryptopp/issues/869
- https://tches.iacr.org/index.php/TCHES/article/view/7337
- https://github.com/weidai11/cryptopp/releases/tag/CRYPTOPP_8_3_0
- https://github.com/weidai11/cryptopp/releases/tag/CRYPTOPP_8_4_0