CVE-2024-50383: botan — Exploit & Fix

Description

Botan before 3.6.0, when certain GCC versions are used, has a compiler-induced secret-dependent operation in lib/utils/donna128.h in donna128 (used in Chacha-Poly1305 and x25519). An addition can be skipped if a carry is not set. This was observed for GCC 11.3.0 with -O2 on MIPS, and GCC on x86-i386. (Only 32-bit processors can be affected.)

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CVSS v3.1 Score

5.9

MEDIUM

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

Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-203 CWE-203

Affected Products

Vendor	Product	Versions
botan_project	botan	< 3.6.0

References

Advisories & Patches

https://github.com/randombit/botan/commit/53b0cfde580e86b03d0d27a488b6c134f662e957

Exploits

https://arxiv.org/pdf/2410.13489

Other References

https://github.com/randombit/botan/compare/3.5.0...3.6.0 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41887153

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2024-50383? +

Botan before 3.6.0, when certain GCC versions are used, has a compiler-induced secret-dependent operation in lib/utils/donna128.h in donna128 (used in Chacha-Poly1305 and x25519). An addition can be skipped if a carry is not set. This was observed for GCC 11.3.0 with -O2 on MIPS, and GCC on x86-i386. (Only 32-bit processors can be affected.) It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.9 (MEDIUM).

How severe is CVE-2024-50383? +

CVE-2024-50383 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 5.9 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-2024-50383? +

CVE-2024-50383 affects products from botan_project, specifically: botan. Check the affected products table above for specific version ranges.

How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2024-50383? +

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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