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IKEv1 Main Mode vulnerable to brute force attacks

Vulnerability Note VU#857035

Original Release Date: 2018-08-14 | Last Revised: 2024-07-15

Overview

Internet Key Exchange v1 main mode is vulnerable to offline dictionary or brute force attacks.

Description

The Internet Key Exchange v1 main mode is vulnerable to offline dictionary or brute force attacks. (CVE-2018-5389)

It is well known, that the aggressive mode of IKEv1 PSK is vulnerable to offline dictionary or brute force attacks. For the main mode however, only an online attack against PSK authentication was thought to be feasible.

Impact

An attacker may be able to recover a weak Pre-Shared Key.

Solution

Use Secure Passwords
Use cryptographically secure PSK values that resist brute force or dictionary attacks.

As mentioned in USENIX '18 presentation

To counter these attacks, both entry points must be closed: Only high entropy PSKs should be used, and both PKE and RPKE modes should be deactivated in all IKE devices. It is not sufficient to configure key sep- aration on the sender side. All receivers must also be informed about this key separation – novel solutions are required to achieve this task.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Martin Grothe, Joerg Schwenk, and Dennis Felsch for reporting this vulnerability.

This document was written by Trent Novelly.

Vendor Information

857035
 

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CVSS Metrics

Group Score Vector
Base 8.8 AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:N
Temporal 7.9 E:POC/RL:U/RC:--
Environmental 7.9 CDP:ND/TD:ND/CR:ND/IR:ND/AR:ND

Other Information

CVE IDs: CVE-2018-5389
API URL: VINCE JSON | CSAF
Date Public: 2018-08-14
Date First Published: 2018-08-14
Date Last Updated: 2024-07-15 14:51 UTC
Document Revision: 18

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