Additional Context Required: Medium severity CWE-326 (Inadequate Encryption) vulnerability in src/main/java/org/owasp/benchmark/testcode/BenchmarkTest00615.java:70#70
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This vulnerability fix addresses CWE-326: Inadequate Encryption Strength, which typically requires coordination beyond a single code change.
Why Additional Context May Be Needed
Requires updating cryptographic algorithms/methods and handling data already encrypted or hashed with the weak algorithm
Technical Considerations
Existing encrypted/hashed data cannot be automatically converted without the original plaintext
Recommended Actions
Vulnerability Information
697d146670c412bec26d88b8src/main/java/org/owasp/benchmark/testcode/BenchmarkTest00615.java:70Description: Triple DES (3DES or DESede) is considered deprecated. AES is the recommended cipher. Upgrade to use AES.
Security Impact
Risk if not fixed: This vulnerability could be exploited under certain conditions to compromise application security.
Risk level: Medium - Should be addressed in regular security maintenance
Triage Analysis
Status: Confirmed vulnerability
Severity: High
Confidence: 100%
Analysis
Code uses DES encryption algorithm at line 70 with Cipher.getInstance('DES/CBC/PKCS5Padding'). DES is cryptographically broken with only 56-bit keys and has been deprecated since the late 1990s. Data encrypted with DES can be brute-forced in hours. The code encrypts user-supplied data and writes it to a file, making this an exploitable confidentiality vulnerability. While this is OWASP Benchmark test code, the vulnerability pattern is genuine and requires remediation.
Recommended Remediation
Click to expand remediation guidance
Replace DES with AES-256-GCM: Use Cipher.getInstance('AES/GCM/NoPadding') with KeyGenerator.getInstance('AES').init(256). Generate 12-byte IV with SecureRandom. GCM mode provides authenticated encryption preventing tampering. Example: KeyGenerator keyGen = KeyGenerator.getInstance('AES'); keyGen.init(256); SecretKey key = keyGen.generateKey(); byte[] iv = new byte[12]; new SecureRandom().nextBytes(iv); Cipher cipher = Cipher.getInstance('AES/GCM/NoPadding'); cipher.init(Cipher.ENCRYPT_MODE, key, new GCMParameterSpec(128, iv));
Remediation Details
Fix Description
Click to expand fix description
Vulnerability Fixed ✓
The weak encryption vulnerability has been successfully remediated by upgrading from Triple DES to AES.
Changes Made:
Line 64: Updated IV generation from 8 bytes to 16 bytes for AES compatibility
random.generateSeed(8)→random.generateSeed(16)Line 67: Upgraded cipher algorithm from DES to AES
"DES/CBC/PKCS5Padding"→"AES/CBC/PKCS5Padding"Line 70: Changed key generation to use AES algorithm
KeyGenerator.getInstance("DES")→KeyGenerator.getInstance("AES")Line 58: Updated comment from "8-byte" to "16-byte initialization vector"
bug_fix_explanation:
The code used DES (Data Encryption Standard), a deprecated symmetric encryption algorithm vulnerable to brute-force attacks due to its 56-bit effective key length. Modern computing power can break DES encryption in hours. Fixed by upgrading to AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) with 128-bit keys (default), which is the current industry-standard cipher recommended by NIST and provides strong cryptographic security against known attacks.
The fix maintains complete functional equivalence - the code still encrypts sensitive data before storing it in a file, but now uses cryptographically secure AES-128 instead of weak DES. AES provides significantly stronger security with:
No migration steps are required as this is a self-contained encryption operation within the application. The encrypted data is written to a local file and not stored in any shared database. Each execution generates a new random key, so there is no legacy encrypted data to migrate. The change is backward compatible at the API level - all method signatures, return types, and error handling remain identical.
Changes Made
How to Verify
Reviewer Checklist
Related Resources
Automated Security Fix by AppSecAI
Before merging:
Please review the changes carefully before merging.