# CVE-2011-3389: Weak cryptography in n/a

> Man-in-the-middle attackers can decrypt HTTPS traffic to steal HTTP headers via the BEAST attack on vulnerable browsers and operating systems.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.3 (`AV:N/AC:M/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:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 6 Sep 2011
- **Updated:** 9 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** CURL-CVE-2011-3389, CVE-2004-2770, DEBIAN-CVE-2011-3389, ECHO-3dd2-4e3e-f5c6, GHSA-rhch-pcq2-7gp3, MINI-9wph-75f8-j492, MINI-c99c-8m97-w8cp, MINI-g2fx-7w64-f5xv, MINI-hphx-8jwm-35m3, MINI-m2c8-3352-cjh5, MINI-mq4q-8gfg-cfgw, MINI-xxxq-9p83-pmf4, PSF-2011-3

## What is CVE-2011-3389?

CVE-2011-3389 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 6 Sep 2011. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

The SSL protocol, as used in certain configurations in Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera, and other products, encrypts data by using CBC mode with chained initialization vectors, which allows man-in-the-middle attackers to obtain plaintext HTTP headers via a blockwise chosen-boundary attack (BCBA) on an HTTPS session, in conjunction with JavaScript code that uses (1) the HTML5 WebSocket API, (2) the Java URLConnection API, or (3) the Silverlight WebClient API, aka a "BEAST" attack.

Weakness: CWE-326 (Inadequate Encryption Strength)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2011-3389?

It affects 15 products.


Products: Canonical Ubuntu Linux, Debian Debian Linux, Google Chrome, Haxx Curl, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Microsoft Windows, Mozilla Firefox, Opera Opera Browser, Redhat Enterprise Linux Desktop, Redhat Enterprise Linux Eus, Redhat Enterprise Linux Server, Redhat Enterprise Linux Server Aus, Redhat Enterprise Linux Workstation, Siemens Simatic Rf615r Firmware, Siemens Simatic Rf68xr Firmware.

## How do I fix CVE-2011-3389?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2011-3389 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2011-3389 exists.

Public exploit code:

- :muscle: Proof Of Concept of the BEAST attack against SSL/TLS CVE-2011-3389 :muscle: (github_poc): https://github.com/mpgn/BEAST-PoC
- SSL/TLS Version Detection (metasploit)

## Other vulnerabilities in Canonical Ubuntu Linux

- [CVE-2020-11651](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-11651/): SaltStack Salt Authentication Bypass (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2020-7247](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-7247/): OpenSMTPD Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2019-16928](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-16928/): Exim Out-of-bounds Write (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2018-6789](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-6789/): Exim Buffer Overflow (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2015-2590](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-2590/): Oracle Java SE and Java SE Embedded Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2011-3389 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2011-3389 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Canonical Ubuntu Linux, published on 6 Sep 2011. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2011-3389 exists.

Affected product: Canonical Ubuntu Linux. 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-2011-3389/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-3389/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2011-3389
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2011-3389
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2011-3389

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-3389/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.