Skip to main content

Tag: tls

4 articles

Rows of computer servers and networking equipment in a dimly lit data center with one server highlighted.

OpenSSL Flaw Exposes Servers to Memory Exhaustion Attacks

A newly discovered OpenSSL flaw, dubbed HollowByte, leaves unpatched servers vulnerable to memory exhaustion attacks, where a mere 11 bytes can trigger the allocation of up to 131 KB of memory for a message that never arrives. This tiny trigger can bring a server to its knees, freezing memory and blocking critical connections.

Analyst 207
Dimly lit server room with one server showing high memory usage.

OpenSSL Servers Vulnerable to Memory-Bloating DDoS Attacks

Beware: a simple 11-byte malicious input can cripple OpenSSL servers with a devastating DDoS attack, leaving them permanently bloated and vulnerable. This sneaky exploit, dubbed HollowByte, takes advantage of a weakness in OpenSSL's TLS handshake to drain server resources.

Analyst 207
Dimly lit server room with rows of computer servers, cables, and softly glowing screens displaying code amidst shadows.

Weak RSA Keys Exposed in Widespread Use

Meet the badkeys project, an open-source service that scans public keys for vulnerabilities, which recently uncovered a surprising pattern of weak RSA keys in widespread use. By analyzing a massive dataset of real-world public keys, the team discovered a substantial number of keys with a suspicious structure, featuring regularly spaced blocks of zero bits and random data.

Analyst 207
Rows of computer servers and networking equipment in a brightly-lit mail server room.

Exim BDAT Flaw Exposes GnuTLS Builds to Code Execution Risk

A newly discovered vulnerability, dubbed Dead.Letter, threatens Exim builds that use GnuTLS, allowing attackers to exploit a use-after-free flaw in BDAT handling and potentially execute malicious code. This critical flaw can be triggered when a specific sequence of BDAT and TLS commands is sent, leading to heap corruption and a heightened risk of code execution.

Analyst 207