CVE-2023-6129

Description

Issue summary: The POLY1305 MAC (message authentication code) implementation contains a bug that might corrupt the internal state of applications running on PowerPC CPU based platforms if the CPU provides vector instructions. Impact summary: If an attacker can influence whether the POLY1305 MAC algorithm is used, the application state might be corrupted with various application dependent consequences. The POLY1305 MAC (message authentication code) implementation in OpenSSL for PowerPC CPUs restores the contents of vector registers in a different order than they are saved. Thus the contents of some of these vector registers are corrupted when returning to the caller. The vulnerable code is used only on newer PowerPC processors supporting the PowerISA 2.07 instructions. The consequences of this kind of internal application state corruption can be various - from no consequences, if the calling application does not depend on the contents of non-volatile XMM registers at all, to the worst consequences, where the attacker could get complete control of the application process. However unless the compiler uses the vector registers for storing pointers, the most likely consequence, if any, would be an incorrect result of some application dependent calculations or a crash leading to a denial of service. The POLY1305 MAC algorithm is most frequently used as part of the CHACHA20-POLY1305 AEAD (authenticated encryption with associated data) algorithm. The most common usage of this AEAD cipher is with TLS protocol versions 1.2 and 1.3. If this cipher is enabled on the server a malicious client can influence whether this AEAD cipher is used. This implies that TLS server applications using OpenSSL can be potentially impacted. However we are currently not aware of any concrete application that would be affected by this issue therefore we consider this a Low severity security issue.

CVSS v3.1 Score

6.5

MEDIUM

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H

Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-440 CWE-440

CWE-787 Out-of-bounds Write

Affected Products

Vendor	Product	Versions
openssl	openssl	3.0.0 — 3.0.12
openssl	openssl	3.1.0 — 3.1.4
openssl	openssl	All

References

Advisories & Patches

https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/050d26383d4e264966fb83428e72d5d48f402d35 https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/5b139f95c9a47a55a0c54100f3837b1eee942b04 https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/f3fc5808fe9ff74042d639839610d03b8fdcc015 https://www.openssl.org/news/secadv/20240109.txt https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/050d26383d4e264966fb83428e72d5d48f402d35 https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/5b139f95c9a47a55a0c54100f3837b1eee942b04 https://github.com/openssl/openssl/commit/f3fc5808fe9ff74042d639839610d03b8fdcc015 https://www.openssl.org/news/secadv/20240109.txt

Other References

http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2024/03/11/1 https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20240216-0009/ https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20240426-0008/ https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20240426-0013/ https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20240503-0011/ https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-265688.html https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-331112.html https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-769027.html https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-915275.html

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2023-6129? +

Issue summary: The POLY1305 MAC (message authentication code) implementation contains a bug that might corrupt the internal state of applications running on PowerPC CPU based platforms if the CPU provides vector instructions. Impact summary: If an attacker can influence whether the POLY1305 MAC algorithm is used, the application state might be corrupted with various application dependent consequences. The POLY1305 MAC (message authentication code) implementation in OpenSSL for PowerPC CPUs restores the contents of vector registers in a different order than they are saved. Thus the contents of some of these vector registers are corrupted when returning to the caller. The vulnerable code is used only on newer PowerPC processors supporting the PowerISA 2.07 instructions. The consequences of this kind of internal application state corruption can be various - from no consequences, if the calling application does not depend on the contents of non-volatile XMM registers at all, to the worst consequences, where the attacker could get complete control of the application process. However unless the compiler uses the vector registers for storing pointers, the most likely consequence, if any, would be an incorrect result of some application dependent calculations or a crash leading to a denial of service. The POLY1305 MAC algorithm is most frequently used as part of the CHACHA20-POLY1305 AEAD (authenticated encryption with associated data) algorithm. The most common usage of this AEAD cipher is with TLS protocol versions 1.2 and 1.3. If this cipher is enabled on the server a malicious client can influence whether this AEAD cipher is used. This implies that TLS server applications using OpenSSL can be potentially impacted. However we are currently not aware of any concrete application that would be affected by this issue therefore we consider this a Low severity security issue. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.5 (MEDIUM).

How severe is CVE-2023-6129? +

CVE-2023-6129 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 6.5 out of 10, rated MEDIUM. This is a medium-severity vulnerability that should be remediated as part of regular maintenance.

What products are affected by CVE-2023-6129? +

CVE-2023-6129 affects products from openssl, specifically: openssl. Check the affected products table above for specific version ranges.

How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2023-6129? +

You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

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