7.5
Advisory Published
CVE Published
Updated

CVE-2014-9293

First published: Fri Dec 19 2014(Updated: )

As per upstream NTP security advisory: If no 'auth' key is set in the configuration file, ntpd would generate a random key on the fly. There were two problems with this: 1) the generated key was 31 bits in size, and 2) it used the (now weak) ntp_random() function, which was seeded with a 32-bit value and could only provide 32 bits of entropy. This was sufficient back in the late 1990s when the code was written. Not today. Mitigation: Upgrade to 4.2.7p11 or later. This vulnerability was noticed in ntp-4.2.6 by Neel Mehta of the Google Security Team.

Credit: cve@mitre.org

Affected SoftwareAffected VersionHow to fix
NTP ntp<=4.2.7
redhat/ntp<4.2.8
4.2.8

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Reference Links

Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is the severity of CVE-2014-9293?

    The severity of CVE-2014-9293 has been categorized as high due to the potential for attackers to exploit weak random keys.

  • How do I fix CVE-2014-9293?

    To fix CVE-2014-9293, upgrade your NTP software to version 4.2.8 or later.

  • What systems are affected by CVE-2014-9293?

    CVE-2014-9293 affects NTP versions up to 4.2.7 across various platforms.

  • What is the risk if CVE-2014-9293 is not addressed?

    If CVE-2014-9293 is not addressed, unauthorized users may have an increased risk of intercepting and spoofing NTP traffic.

  • What is the cause of CVE-2014-9293?

    CVE-2014-9293 is caused by NTP's weak random key generation when no authentication keys are configured.

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