oss-sec mailing list archives

Re: BoringSSL private key loading is not constant time


From: Billy Brumley <bbb () iki fi>
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2025 13:40:36 -0400 (EDT)

Sorry Jeff not trying to unload on you, only to prevent misinformation from spreading.

Is there an actual private key recovery associated with the attack?  I
did not see it in the sources I examined.

No, only partial private key recovery. OTOH this is how research starts.

And how does one get a server to repeatedly load a private key that is
usually loaded once on server startup?

When we met f2f in San Diego (2013?), I'm confident in saying: I think we're the same generation, so you know what inetd is :D

So, the answer: inetd

It's a great example which can cause superfulous key loads, bc you get a new launch per connection.

(Don't have to tell folks on this list that inetd has, currently, been pretty much supplanted by systemd. I loved inetd. Sometimes I miss the 90s.)

Finally, how does an attacker change a server's governor, like from
userspace or conservative to performance?

Check the README.md again, construct a prompt with it and ask your favorite GenAI, and if that question still seems relevant to you, please ask again on this list.

Cheers,

BBB

--
Dr. Billy B. Brumley, D.Sc. (Tech.)
Research Director, ESL Global Cybersecurity Institute (GCI)
Kevin O'Sullivan Endowed Professor, Department of Cybersecurity (CSEC)
Director, Platform Security Laboratory (PLATSEC)
Rochester Institute of Technology
Cybersecurity Hall 70-1770
100 Lomb Memorial Drive
Rochester, NY, 14623-5608, USA
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