CVE-2016-7056: Medium severity Google Android vulnerability

Published Jan 11, 2017
·
Updated

A timing attack flaw was found in OpenSSL 1.0.1u and before that could allow a malicious user with local access to recover ECDSA P-256 private keys.

Other sources

The signing function in crypto/ecdsa/ecdsaossl.c in certain OpenSSL versions and forks is vulnerable to timing attacks when signing with the standardized elliptic curve P-256 despite featuring constant-time curve operations and modular inversion. A software defect omits setting the BNFLGCONSTTIME flag for nonces, failing to take a secure code path in the BNmodinverse method and therefore resulting in a cache-timing attack vulnerability. A malicious user with local access can recover ECDSA P-256 private keys.

References:

http://seclists.org/oss-sec/2017/q1/52 http://eprint.iacr.org/2016/1195

Red Hat

Affected Software

9 affected componentsFixes available
Google Android
OpenSSL OpenSSL<=1.0.1u
Debian Debian Linux=8.0
Debian Debian Linux=9.0
redhat Enterprise Linux=6.0
redhat Enterprise Linux=7.0
Canonical Ubuntu Linux=12.04
Canonical Ubuntu Linux=14.04
debian/openssl
1.1.1w-0+deb11u11.1.1w-0+deb11u53.0.18-1~deb12u13.0.18-1~deb12u23.5.4-1~deb13u13.5.4-1~deb13u23.5.5-1

Event History

Jan 11, 2017
Data Sourced
via Red Hat·10:09 AM
DescriptionSeverityAffected Software
May 1, 2017
CVE Published
via Android·12:00 AM
Sep 10, 2018
CVE Published
via MITRE·04:00 PM
Data Sourced
via MITRE·04:00 PM
DescriptionSeverityWeakness
Jan 11, 2024
Data Sourced
via Launchpad·09:56 PM
Description
Feb 19, 2026
Data Sourced
via Ubuntu·06:18 PM
RemedyDescriptionSeverityAffected Software
Feb 23, 2026
Data Sourced
via Debian·06:21 PM
DescriptionAffected Software

Frequently Asked Questions

1

What is the severity of CVE-2016-7056?

CVE-2016-7056 has a high severity rating due to its potential to allow local users to recover private keys.

2

How do I fix CVE-2016-7056?

To fix CVE-2016-7056, update OpenSSL to versions 1.1.1w or later, or apply relevant patches provided by your Linux distribution.

3

Which versions of OpenSSL are affected by CVE-2016-7056?

CVE-2016-7056 affects OpenSSL versions 1.0.1u and earlier.

4

Can CVE-2016-7056 be exploited remotely?

CVE-2016-7056 cannot be exploited remotely as it requires local access to the vulnerable system.

5

What is the impact of a successful exploit of CVE-2016-7056?

A successful exploit of CVE-2016-7056 may allow an attacker to recover ECDSA P-256 private keys, compromising the security of encrypted communications.

Contact

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