[clue-tech] OpenSSL weakness in Debian and Debian-based distributions

[Jed S. Baer]

Bit of an oops here, and given the popularity of Ubuntu, affects a lot of
systems. Paste follows:

http://lists.debian.org/debian-security-announce/2008/msg00152.html

New openssl packages fix predictable random number generator

Luciano Bello discovered that the random number generator in Debian's
openssl package is predictable.  This is caused by an incorrect
Debian-specific change to the openssl package (CVE-2008-0166).  As a
result, cryptographic key material may be guessable.

This is a Debian-specific vulnerability which does not affect other
operating systems which are not based on Debian.  However, other systems
can be indirectly affected if weak keys are imported into them.

It is strongly recommended that all cryptographic key material which has
been generated by OpenSSL versions starting with 0.9.8c-1 on Debian
systems is recreated from scratch.  Furthermore, all DSA keys ever used
on affected Debian systems for signing or authentication purposes should
be considered compromised; the Digital Signature Algorithm relies on a
secret random value used during signature generation.

The first vulnerable version, 0.9.8c-1, was uploaded to the unstable
distribution on 2006-09-17, and has since propagated to the testing and
current stable (etch) distributions.  The old stable distribution
(sarge) is not affected.

Affected keys include SSH keys, OpenVPN keys, DNSSEC keys, and key
material for use in X.509 certificates and session keys used in SSL/TLS
connections.  Keys generated with GnuPG or GNUTLS are not affected,
though.

A detector for known weak key material will be published at:

  <http://security.debian.org/project/extra/dowkd/dowkd.pl.gz>
  <http://security.debian.org/project/extra/dowkd/dowkd.pl.gz.asc>
    (OpenPGP signature)

[end paste]