Timing Side-Channel: RSA ClientKeyExchange Decryption in GnuTLS
CVE-2023-0361 Published on February 15, 2023
A timing side-channel in the handling of RSA ClientKeyExchange messages was discovered in GnuTLS. This side-channel can be sufficient to recover the key encrypted in the RSA ciphertext across a network in a Bleichenbacher style attack. To achieve a successful decryption the attacker would need to send a large amount of specially crafted messages to the vulnerable server. By recovering the secret from the ClientKeyExchange message, the attacker would be able to decrypt the application data exchanged over that connection.
Vulnerability Analysis
CVE-2023-0361 can be exploited with network access, and does not require authorization privileges or user interaction. This vulnerability is consided to have a high level of attack complexity. Public availability of a proof of concept (POC) exploit exists for CVE-2023-0361. The potential impact of an exploit of this vulnerability is considered to have a high impact on confidentiality and integrity, and no impact on availability.
Weakness Type
What is a Side Channel Attack Vulnerability?
The product behaves differently or sends different responses under different circumstances in a way that is observable to an unauthorized actor, which exposes security-relevant information about the state of the product, such as whether a particular operation was successful or not. Discrepancies can take many forms, and variations may be detectable in timing, control flow, communications such as replies or requests, or general behavior. These discrepancies can reveal information about the product's operation or internal state to an unauthorized actor. In some cases, discrepancies can be used by attackers to form a side channel.
CVE-2023-0361 has been classified to as a Side Channel Attack vulnerability or weakness.
Products Associated with CVE-2023-0361
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Exploit Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) scores estimate the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. The percentile shows you how this score compares to all other vulnerabilities.