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Re: [LUG] ssl cracked

 

On Wed, 31 Dec 2008 08:38:44 +0000
Tom Potts <tompotts@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/12/30/ssl_spoofing/

"The vulnerability in the web's SSL system is made possible by a handful
of certificate authorities who continue to rely solely on MD5 to sign
certificates. Even though the number amounts to a tiny fraction of
authorities, all web browsers continue to accept MD5 hashes. The
researchers didn't identify the certificate authorities by name."

So it's the same story - if everyone used SSL properly, this breakage
would not have been possible. Any system can only be as strong as the
weakest link and some are just bone idle.

MD5 is known to be weak - supporting it at all is an invitation to
breakage.

The simplest fix is for browsers to unilaterally drop support for MD5
hashes on SSL certificates now that MD5-SSL is known to be vulnerable.

Just what is the point of shouting about 128bit encryption if the
validation of the certificate is using MD5????

-- 


Neil Williams
=============
http://www.data-freedom.org/
http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/
http://www.linux.codehelp.co.uk/

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