Because the bug is actually in the spec (and
because of an incomplete spec) there is no
obvious solution which will not risk breaking a
lot of software.
On the positive side, the vuln can only be
exploited by someone on the network path (it is
a man-in-the-middle attack), which means that
your network admin, the admins at your ISP (and
intelligence services) etc. can use this to
snoop on traffic, but a malicious site can not.
Zero-day flaw found in web encryption
Summary
A zero-day flaw in the TLS and SSL protocols, which are commonly used to encrypt web pages, has been made public.
Topics
Security researchers Marsh Ray and Steve Dispensa unveiled the TLS (Transport Layer Security) flaw on Wednesday, following the disclosure of separate, but similar, security findings. TLS and its predecessor, SSL (Secure Sockets Layer), are typically used by online retailers and banks to provide security for web transactions.
Ray, who along with Dispensa works for two-factor authentication company PhoneFactor, explained in a blog post on Thursday that he had initially discovered the flaw in August, and demonstrated a working exploit to Dispensa at the beginning of September.
The flaw in the TLS authentication process allows an outsider to hijack a legitimate user's browser session and successfully impersonate the user, the researchers said in a technical paper.
For more, read "Zero-day flaw found in web encryption " on ZDNet UK.
Talkback Most Recent of 4 Talkback(s)
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honeymonster5th Nov 2009 -
wireless too
And if someone knows what they are doing, using various wireless technologies could likely be sniffed and spoofed too.
richard23311th Nov 2009 -
Cue...
Morrons that will say: This flaw only works on windows because of the invulnerability shield that Linux/Macs have from their Unix origin.
PS: It's a bad one... I hope it will be fixed even if the possibility of exploitation is low.
Ceridan5th Nov 2009 -
A true cross-platform flaw
The TLS protocol does not care which OS you are using. This flaw is truly cross-platform. So much for fanboys...
barence7738th Nov 2009
Talkback - Tell Us What You Think
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