Security update for OpenSSL (package openssl-devel)

Knowledgebase

(Last modified: 21FEB2003)

solutions Security update for OpenSSL (package openssl-devel) SuSE Linux Maintenance Web (d7cba6a9980ab28d14a3b2324d17477f)

Applies to

Product(s): SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 for x86
SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 for IPF
SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 for IBM iSeries and IBM pSeries
SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 for IBM S/390 and IBM zSeries
SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 for IBM zSeries
SuSE Linux Openexchange Server 4

Package: openssl-devel
Release: 20030221
Obsoletes: none

Indications

This security update should be installed on all systems using OpenSSL.

Contraindications

None.

Problem description

This update for the openssl packages removes the vulnerability known as "Timing-based attacks on SSL/TLS with CBC encryption" as announced by the OpenSSL development team on February 19th 2003.
A possible exploitation scenario requires an attacker to be able to perform a man-in-the-middle attack with a network quality good enough to observe timing differences. In addition to that, the endpoints of the encrypted connection may not propagate decoding errors to the application that uses the SSL connection, and the network traffic must repeatedly consist of the same plain text block.
Even though these conditions impose a limit to the severity of the vulnerability, we recommend to update the package on your system with the offered update packages.

Solution

Please install the updates provided at the location noted below.

Installation notes

This update is provided as an RPM package that can easily be installed onto a running system by using this command:
rpm -Fvh openssl-devel.rpm
Note:
The openssl-devel package contains the static libraries that
are linked to a binary if you compile/link it on your own. If one or
more of your own binaries are linked statically against the openssl
library, it is recommended to recompile these binaries after the
installation of this openssl-devel update. If you
update this package containing the static libaries, you should also
update the shared libraries package as described in the maintenace
web article "Security update for OpenSSL" (http://sdb.suse.de/en/psdb/html/4b5e1a52a4e98f479c19123b973042b9.html).

links to download packages

Download Source Packages

Download the source code of the patches for maintained products.

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