CVE-2019-9494: The implementations of SAE in hostapd and wpa_supplicant are vulnerable to side-channel attacks

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2019-9494 is a medium (CVSS 5.9) Observable Timing Discrepancy vulnerability in fedoraproject fedora. EPSS estimates a 3.88% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 90.2% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 17-04-2019
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 04-08-2024
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

The implementations of SAE in hostapd and wpa_supplicant are vulnerable to side channel attacks as a result of observable timing differences and cache access patterns. An attacker may be able to gain leaked information from a side channel attack that can be used for full password recovery. Both hostapd with SAE support and wpa_supplicant with SAE support prior to and including version 2.7 are affected.

• CWE-208Observable Timing DiscrepancyTwo separate operations in a product require different amounts of time to complete, in a way that is observable to an actor and reveals security-relevant information about the state of the product, such as whether a particular operation was successful or not.
• CWE-524Use of Cache Containing Sensitive InformationThe code uses a cache that contains sensitive information, but the cache can be read by an actor outside of the intended control sphere.
• CWE-203Observable DiscrepancyThe product behaves differently or sends different responses under different circumstances in a way that is observable to an unauthorized actor.