ECCouncil CEH v13 312-50v13 Question # 18 Topic 2 Discussion

The Heartbleed vulnerability (CVE-2014-0160) is a critical buffer over-read flaw in OpenSSL’s implementation of the TLS heartbeat extension. It allows attackers to read portions of memory from a server using vulnerable versions of OpenSSL.

This exposed sensitive data including:

Usernames and passwords

Session tokens

Private encryption keys

From CEH v13 Study Guide – Module 5: Vulnerability Analysis and Module 6: Malware Threats:

“The Heartbleed vulnerability allowed attackers to extract memory contents from the OpenSSL process, including sensitive materials such as private SSL keys. These private keys are used in the TLS protocol to encrypt and decrypt secure communications. Once compromised, attackers could decrypt communications or impersonate the server.”

Private keys being compromised allow attackers to decrypt HTTPS traffic, impersonate trusted servers, and conduct MITM (Man-in-the-Middle) attacks.

Incorrect Options:

A. Public: Public keys are already shared and not a security risk if disclosed.

C. Shared: Vague term not applicable here.

D. Root: Heartbleed doesn’t directly expose root keys; rather, it leaks application memory including private SSL/TLS keys.