Security Bulletin: Sterling Connect:Enterprise For UNIX and Sterling Connect:Enterprise clients are affected by the POODLE and OpenSSL vulnerabilities (CVE-2014-3566, CVE-2014-3567)

Summary

SSLv3 contains a vulnerability that has been referred to as the Padding Oracle On Downgraded Legacy Encryption (POODLE) attack. SSLv3 is enabled in Sterling Connect:Enterprise For UNIX, Sterling Connect:Enterprise Command Line Client, Sterling Connect:Enterprise HTTP Option, and Sterling Connect:Enterprise Secure Client.

Also, OpenSSL vulnerabilities were disclosed on October 15, 2014 by the OpenSSL Project. OpenSSL is used by Sterling Connect:Enterprise For UNIX. Sterling Connect:Enterprise For UNIX has addressed the applicable CVEs.

Vulnerability Details

CVE-ID: CVE-2014-3567

DESCRIPTION: OpenSSL is vulnerable to a denial of service, caused by a memory leak when handling failed session ticket integrity checks. By sending an overly large number of invalid session tickets, an attacker could exploit this vulnerability to exhaust all available memory of an SSL/TLS or DTLS server.

Connect:Enterprise Clients are not affected by this vulnerability.

CVSS Base Score: 5.0
CVSS Temporal Score: See https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/97036 for more information
CVSS Environmental Score*: Undefined
CVSS Vector: (AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P)

CVE-ID: CVE-2014-3566

DESCRIPTION: Sterling Connect:Enterprise For UNIX could allow a remote attacker to obtain sensitive information, caused by a design error when using the SSLv3 protocol. A remote user with the ability to conduct a man-in-the-middle attack could exploit this vulnerability via a POODLE (Padding Oracle On Downgraded Legacy Encryption) attack to decrypt SSL sessions and access the plaintext of encrypted connections.

CVSS Base Score: 4.3
CVSS Temporal Score: See https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/97013 for the current score
CVSS Environmental Score*: Undefined
CVSS Vector: (AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N)

Affected Products and Versions

Sterling Connect:Enterprise For UNIX (CEU) 2.5.0.0 through 2.5.0.3 iFix04
Sterling Connect:Enterprise For UNIX (CEU) 2.4.04 through 2.4.0.4 iFix01
Sterling Connect:Enterprise Command Line Client (CLC) 1.3.0.0 through 1.3.0.0 iFix01
Sterling Connect:Enterprise HTTP Option 1.4.0.0 through 1.4.0.0 iFix02
Sterling Connect:Enterprise HTTP Option 1.3.0.0 through 1.3.0.0 iFix01
Sterling Connect:Enterprise Secure Client 1.4.0.0 through 1.4.0.0 iFix01
Sterling Connect:Enterprise Secure Client 1.3.0.0 through 1.3.0.2 iFix01

Remediation/Fixes

VRMF

| Fix|Where to acquire the fix
—|—|—
Sterling Connect:Enterprise For UNIX 2.5.0.3| iFix 5| Fix available on Fix Central
Sterling Connect:Enterprise For UNIX 2.4.0.4| iFix 2| Fix available on IWM

For information on downloading an iFix from the IWM site, see the IWM Frequently Asked Questions. _
_
IBM recommends that you review your entire environment to identify areas that enable the SSLv3 protocol and take appropriate mitigation and remediation actions. The most immediate mitigation action that can be taken is disabling SSLv3.

Workarounds and Mitigations

For Sterling Connect:Enterprise for UNIX sessions using FTP, configure the protocol definitions to only allow TLS connections.
For Sterling Connect:Enterprise for UNIX Admin, AS2 and WebDAV functionality, and for the other products mentioned, apply the iFixes above and follow the instructions in the iFix readme file to add the -Dtlsonly=true parameter to the Java startup line.
For transfers using Sterling Connect:Enterprise Secure Client, ensure that the server being connected to is configured to only allow the TLS protocol.