RHSA-2005:476 - Security Advisory

Topic

Updated OpenSSL packages that fix security issues are now available.

This update has been rated as having moderate security impact by the Red
Hat Security Response Team.

Description

OpenSSL is a toolkit that implements Secure Sockets Layer (SSL v2/v3) and
Transport Layer Security (TLS v1) protocols as well as a full-strength
general purpose cryptography library.

Colin Percival reported a cache timing attack that could allow a malicious
local user to gain portions of cryptographic keys. The Common
Vulnerabilities and Exposures project (cve.mitre.org) assigned the name
CAN-2005-0109 to the issue. The OpenSSL library has been patched to add a
new fixed-window mod_exp implementation as default for RSA, DSA, and DH
private-key operations. This patch is designed to mitigate cache timing
and potentially related attacks.

A flaw was found in the way the der_chop script creates temporary files. It
is possible that a malicious local user could cause der_chop to overwrite
files (CAN-2004-0975). The der_chop script was deprecated and has been
removed from these updated packages. Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 did not
ship der_chop and is therefore not vulnerable to this issue.

Users are advised to update to these erratum packages which contain patches
to correct these issues.

Please note: After installing this update, users are advised to either
restart all services that use OpenSSL or restart their system.

Solution

Before applying this update, make sure all previously released errata
relevant to your system have been applied.

This update is available via Red Hat Network. To use Red Hat Network,
launch the Red Hat Update Agent with the following command:

up2date

This will start an interactive process that will result in the appropriate
RPMs being upgraded on your system.

Affected Products

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 4 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 4 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 4 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 3 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 3 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 3 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 2 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 2 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 4 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 4 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 4 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 3 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 3 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 3 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 2 ia64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 2 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 4 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 4 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 3 x86_64
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 3 i386
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems 4 s390x
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems 4 s390
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems 3 s390x
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for IBM z Systems 3 s390
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian 4 ppc
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux for Power, big endian 3 ppc

Fixes

• BZ - 136302 - CAN-2004-0975 temporary file vulnerabilities in der_chop script
• BZ - 140061 - CAN-2004-0975 temporary file vulnerabilities in der_chop script
• BZ - 157631 - CAN-2005-0109 timing attack on OpenSSL with HT

CVEs

• CVE-2004-0975
• CVE-2005-0109

References

(none)