It was discovered that the Invariance Weakness of the RC4 stream cipher could be used to recover plaintext from a TLS connection, when RC4 encryption is used.
"The Invariance Weakness is an L-shape key pattern in RC4 keys, which once it exists in an RC4 key, preserves part of the state permutation intact throughout the initialization process. This intact part includes the least significant bits of the permutation, when processed by the PRGA algorithm, determines the least significant bits of the allegedly pseudo-random output stream along a long prefix of the stream."
This can lead to significant leakage of plaintext bytes from the ciphertext.
The RC4 algorithm, as used in the TLS protocol and SSL protocol, does not properly combine state data with key data during the initialization phase, which makes it easier for remote attackers to conduct plaintext-recovery attacks against the initial bytes of a stream by sniffing network traffic that occasionally relies on keys affected by the Invariance Weakness, and then using a brute-force approach involving LSB values, aka the "Bar Mitzvah" issue.
The severity of CVE-2015-2808 is classified as high due to its potential to expose sensitive information by exploiting the RC4 stream cipher's weaknesses.
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How do I fix CVE-2015-2808?
To fix CVE-2015-2808, it is recommended to upgrade to a version of Java that does not use the RC4 cipher for TLS connections.
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Which Java versions are affected by CVE-2015-2808?
CVE-2015-2808 affects multiple Java versions including 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, and 1.8, particularly those using RC4 in their cipher suites.
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What impact does CVE-2015-2808 have on TLS connections?
CVE-2015-2808 can lead to the recovery of plaintext from TLS connections when vulnerable RC4 encryption is used, compromising data security.
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Is there a workaround for CVE-2015-2808?
A temporary workaround for CVE-2015-2808 is to disable RC4 encryption in your applications to mitigate the risk until an upgrade can be performed.
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