CVE-2022-24402

CVE-2022-24402 is a significant software vulnerability discovered in the TEA1 encryption algorithm. This flaw, as pointed out by researchers, appears to be an intentional weakening of the system's security. The vulnerability reduces the original 80-bit key to a size that can be easily brute-forced on consumer hardware within minutes, thereby compromising the integrity of any data protected by this cipher. The vulnerability was publicly disclosed by the Midnight Blue team, who highlighted its severity and potential implications. They characterized the flaw as an engineering weakness, pointing out that it incorporates a computational step designed solely to reduce the key's effective entropy. This reduction in entropy makes the encryption considerably less secure, making it feasible for attackers to decipher encrypted data rapidly using readily available hardware. The CVE-2022-24402 vulnerability in the TEA1 cipher represents a severe risk to systems relying on this encryption method. Given the apparent deliberate nature of the flaw, it raises concerns about the integrity of the design and implementation process of the cipher. Immediate action is required to address this issue, including potentially transitioning to more secure encryption methods or updating the TEA1 cipher to eliminate the backdoor.