CVE-2014-8379 is a vulnerability that was discovered in December 2014. This flaw affects OpenSSL versions before 1.0.1k and 1.0.2 before 1.0.2a, which are widely used in many web servers and other network devices. The vulnerability allows attackers to carry out man-in-the-middle attacks by exploiting a weakness in the handshake process of SSL/TLS connections, enabling them to decrypt and intercept sensitive information.
The exploit works by forcing the server to use weak ephemeral Diffie-Hellman keys, which can be factored by the attacker. As a result, an attacker can obtain the session key used to encrypt the traffic between the client and server. This enables them to intercept and view the plain text data being exchanged between the two parties, including passwords, credit card numbers, and other sensitive information.
Upon discovery of this vulnerability, a patch was issued promptly for affected OpenSSL versions. Users were strongly advised to update their systems immediately to prevent exploitation. Many organizations also implemented additional security measures, such as disabling support for weak ciphers and ephemeral keys, to further strengthen their defenses against potential attacks.