Chapter 4.8, Problem 3SGDQ

Program Plan Intro

“Heartbleed” Vulnerability:

• “Heartbleed” vulnerability occurs when an error is encountered in the code of open SSL (Secure Socket Layer) cryptographic library.
  • Error that could occur is, consider if the user or client intimates to send a particular amount of information but delivers only a few amount of information that it had intimated, the act of sending less amount of information than it committed to the server is the error, in this case the server in turn replies to the client by sending the information in the amount the client as intimated. It adds the confidential information that it has with it to the message that replies to the client with the size client has committed.
• Open SSL library is used in securing the internet traffic.
• The attacker can use the “Heartbleed” vulnerability to extract the information stored in the memory of the computer which hosts the secure web site.
• The contents of the computer memory could be username, password, session keys, and cryptographic keys.