What kind of bug is in OpenSSL heartbeat?

What kind of bug is in OpenSSL heartbeat?

Bug is in the OpenSSL’s implementation of the TLS/DTLS ( transport layer security protocols) heartbeat extension (RFC6520). When it is exploited it leads to the leak of memory contents from the server to the client and from the client to the server.

Can a vulnerable heartbeat extension code be activated?

No, vulnerable heartbeat extension code is activated regardless of the results of the handshake phase negotiations. Only way to protect yourself is to upgrade to fixed version of OpenSSL or to recompile OpenSSL with the handshake removed from the code. Who found the Heartbleed Bug?

What kind of vulnerability is the Heartbleed bug?

The Heartbleed Bug is a serious vulnerability in the popular OpenSSL cryptographic software library. This weakness allows stealing the information protected, under normal conditions, by the SSL/TLS encryption used to secure the Internet.

Can a heartbeat request be blocked due to encryption?

Due to encryption differentiating between legitimate use and attack cannot be based on the content of the request, but the attack may be detected by comparing the size of the request against the size of the reply. This implies that IDS/IPS can be programmed to detect the attack but not to block it unless heartbeat requests are blocked altogether.

Why is my OpenSSL instance vulnerable to Heartbleed?

Heartbleed may be exploited regardless of whether the vulnerable OpenSSL instance is running as a TLS server or client. It results from improper input validation (due to a missing bounds check) in the implementation of the TLS heartbeat extension.

Is the heartbeat message encrypted in TLS?

Edit: I wrote in a comment below that the heartbeat messages are encrypted. This is not always true. You can send a heartbeat early in the TLS handshake, before encryption has been turned on (though you’re not supposed to). In this case, both the request and response will be unencrypted.