Barracuda Networks has released a firmware update for its Barracuda Web Filter solution to address a couple of SSL inspection flaws reported by Will Dormann, vulnerability analyst at the Carnegie Mellon University CERT Coordination Center.
In a blog post published in mid-March, Dormann revealed several common mistakes made by the developers of software that performs SSL inspection. One of the possibly affected products mentioned by the expert at the time was Barracuda Web Filter, a solution designed for content filtering, application blocking, and malware protection. The SSL inspection feature in this product enables administrators to decrypt and inspect traffic at the URL level in order to have granular control over the use of Web apps.
After Dormann published his blog post, Barracuda Networks got in touch with CERT/CC to determine which of the issues highlighted by the analyst affect its product.
One of the identified vulnerabilities is related to the incomplete validation of upstream certificate validity when SSL inspection is performed (CVE-2015-0961). The second security weakness is caused by the use of three default root CA certificates that are common across appliances (CVE-2015-0962).
“The impact of either CVE-2015-0961 or CVE-2015-0962 may allow an attacker to successfully achieve a man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack without the client knowing it,” CERT/CC said in an advisory.
The vulnerabilities affect Barracuda Web Filter running versions of the firmware 7.0 through 8.1.0.003. Barracuda Networks addressed the flaws with the release of version 8.1.0.005 of the firmware. The company said in a blog post that it has notified Barracuda Web Filter users regarding the existence of the vulnerabilities uncovered during the audit.
Barracuda Web Filter customers who use or have used in the past the SSL inspection feature are advised to update the firmware as soon as possible. Those using the feature might have to deploy new certificates to clients. An online tool that allows organizations to check if their web clients are impacted has been released.
SSL/TLS-related security issues have been in the spotlight recently due to incidents such as FREAK and other vulnerabilities, and the Superfish and PrivDog controversy. A researcher reported over the weekend that even some antivirus products weaken HTTPS security.