# CVE-2003-0078: Weak cryptography in n/a

> An attacker can exploit a timing discrepancy in OpenSSL's SSL/TLS record processing to potentially extract plaintext data via a padding oracle attack.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.0 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 1 Sep 2004
- **Updated:** 8 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2003-0078, DSA-253, GHSA-2x68-h5x4-c4qp

## What is CVE-2003-0078?

CVE-2003-0078 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Freebsd Freebsd, published on 1 Sep 2004. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

ssl3_get_record in s3_pkt.c for OpenSSL before 0.9.7a and 0.9.6 before 0.9.6i does not perform a MAC computation if an incorrect block cipher padding is used, which causes an information leak (timing discrepancy) that may make it easier to launch cryptographic attacks that rely on distinguishing between padding and MAC verification errors, possibly leading to extraction of the original plaintext, aka the "Vaudenay timing attack."

Weakness: CWE-203 (Observable Discrepancy)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2003-0078?

It affects 3 products.


Products: Freebsd Freebsd, Openbsd Openbsd, Openssl Openssl.

## How do I fix CVE-2003-0078?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2003-0078 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2003-0078 exists.

Public exploit code:

- OpenSSL 0.9.x - CBC Error Information Leakage (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in Freebsd Freebsd

- [CVE-2018-17160](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-17160/): Memory corruption in FreeBSD (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2014-3954](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-3954/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2006-4304](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2006-4304/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2006-0226](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2006-0226/): Integer overflow in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2004-0002](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2004-0002/): Denial of service in n/a (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2003-0078 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2003-0078 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Freebsd Freebsd, published on 1 Sep 2004. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2003-0078 exists.

Affected product: Freebsd Freebsd. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2003-0078/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2003-0078/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2003-0078
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2003-0078
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2003-0078

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2003-0078/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.