# CVE-2014-0016: Weak cryptography in n/a

> Remote attackers can obtain private keys for EC or DSA certificates due to improper PRNG state updates in stunnel when using fork threading.

- **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:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 23 Mar 2014
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-xxr9-37w5-wgwc, MGASA-2014-0144

## What is CVE-2014-0016?

CVE-2014-0016 is a medium-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 23 Mar 2014. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

stunnel before 5.00, when using fork threading, does not properly update the state of the OpenSSL pseudo-random number generator (PRNG), which causes subsequent children with the same process ID to use the same entropy pool and allows remote attackers to obtain private keys for EC (ECDSA) or DSA certificates.

Weakness: CWE-332 (Insufficient Entropy in PRNG)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2014-0016?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Stunnel Stunnel.

## How do I fix CVE-2014-0016?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2014-0016 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2014-0016 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2001-0060](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2001-0060/): Other in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2011-2940](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-2940/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2021-20230](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-20230/): Auth bypass in stunnel (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2008-2400](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-2400/): Unspecified vulnerability in stunnel before 4.23, when running as a service on Windows, allows local users to gain privileges via unknown attack vectors. (high 7.2)
- [CVE-2008-2420](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-2420/): Security feature bypass in n/a (medium 6.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2014-0016 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2014-0016 is a medium-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 23 Mar 2014. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2014-0016 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. 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-2014-0016/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-0016/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2014-0016
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2014-0016
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2014-0016

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-0016/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.