Constant cipher key

Encryption or decryption key is constant instead of randomized

Description

This defect occurs when you use a constant for the encryption or decryption key.

Risk

If you use a constant for the encryption or decryption key, an attacker can retrieve your key easily.

You use a key to encrypt and later decrypt your data. If a key is easily retrieved, data encrypted using that key is not secure.

Fix

Produce a random key by using a strong random number generator.

For a list of random number generators that are cryptographically weak, see Vulnerable pseudo-random number generator.

Examples

expand all

Constants Used for Key


#include <openssl/evp.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#define SIZE16 16

int func(EVP_CIPHER_CTX *ctx, unsigned char *iv){
    unsigned char key[SIZE16] = {'1', '2', '3', '4','5','6','b','8','9',
                                 '1','2','3','4','5','6','7'};
    return EVP_CipherInit_ex(ctx, EVP_aes_128_cbc(), NULL, key, iv, 1); 
}

In this example, the cipher key, key, has constants only. An attacker can easily retrieve a constant key.

Correction — Use Random Key

Use a strong random number generator to produce the cipher key. The corrected code here uses the function RAND_bytes declared in openssl/rand.h.


#include <openssl/evp.h>
#include <openssl/rand.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#define SIZE16 16

int func(EVP_CIPHER_CTX *ctx, unsigned char *iv){
    unsigned char key[SIZE16];
    RAND_bytes(key, 16);
    return EVP_CipherInit_ex(ctx, EVP_aes_128_cbc(), NULL, key, iv, 1); 
}

Result Information

Group: Cryptography

Language: C | C++

Default: Off

Command-Line Syntax: CRYPTO_CIPHER_CONSTANT_KEY

Impact: Medium

Version History

Introduced in R2017a