CVE-2024-0914

What it actually does

Timing side-channel in opencryptoki RSA PKCS#1 v1.5 processing leaks plaintext or allows signature forgery without the private key by measuring response-time variations across padding oracle observations.

Why it matters to the business

Attackers could decrypt protected data or forge digital signatures, leading to loss of confidentiality for sensitive communications and integrity failures in authentication or code-signing workflows.

How an attack unfolds

An attacker sends multiple specially crafted RSA ciphertexts to a service using the vulnerable opencryptoki library, records precise timing differences in decryption or signing operations, and uses statistical analysis to recover the private key or plaintext over many queries.

How to fix it

Upgrade opencryptoki to the commit 32ab06ccecc9961fa8b6c73ba5e268df379375d4 or later; rebuild and redeploy any dependent packages; disable RSA PKCS#1 v1.5 padding where operationally feasible until the update is complete.

How to confirm the fix worked

Verify the installed opencryptoki binary or library reports a version containing commit 32ab06ccecc9961fa8b6c73ba5e268df379375d4; re-run timing-analysis test vectors against the updated library to confirm constant-time behavior.

Typical attack path

1. Map services or applications that load opencryptoki for RSA operations
2. Send repeated, timing-sensitive PKCS#1 v1.5 ciphertexts to the target endpoint
3. Collect high-resolution timing measurements of server responses
4. Apply lattice or statistical techniques to extract key material or plaintext
5. Decrypt traffic or produce valid signatures for further unauthorized actions

How to detect it

Review application and cryptographic library logs for unusual volumes of RSA decryption or signing requests; correlate with network traffic showing repeated connections from the same client; no reliable post-exploitation artifacts are known for this side-channel issue.

What your security team should do

• Apply the fixed commit immediately on all systems that use opencryptoki for RSA operations
• Inventory and replace any downstream packages or containers that bundle the vulnerable library
• Monitor for new EPSS increases or public exploits and accelerate patching if observed
• Consider migrating to RSA-OAEP or PSS padding modes to reduce future exposure