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OpenSSL -- BN_mod_exp incorrect results on MIPS

Affected packages
openssl < 1.1.1m,1
openssl-devel < 3.0.1
openssl-quictls < 3.0.1

Details

VuXML ID 1aaaa5c6-804d-11ec-8be6-d4c9ef517024
Discovery 2022-01-28
Entry 2022-01-28

The OpenSSL project reports:

BN_mod_exp may produce incorrect results on MIPS (Moderate)

There is a carry propagation bug in the MIPS32 and MIPS64 squaring procedure. Many EC algorithms are affected, including some of the TLS 1.3 default curves. Impact was not analyzed in detail, because the pre-requisites for attack are considered unlikely and include reusing private keys. Analysis suggests that attacks against RSA and DSA as a result of this defect would be very difficult to perform and are not believed likely. Attacks against DH are considered just feasible (although very difficult) because most of the work necessary to deduce information about a private key may be performed offline. The amount of resources required for such an attack would be significant. However, for an attack on TLS to be meaningful, the server would have to share the DH private key among multiple clients, which is no longer an option since CVE-2016-0701.

References

CVE Name CVE-2021-4160
URL https://www.openssl.org/news/secadv/20220128.txt