The Motorola MTM5000 series firmwares generate TETRA authentication challenges using a PRNG using a tick count register as its sole entropy source. Low boottime entropy and limited re-seeding of the pool renders the authentication challenge vulnerable to two attacks. First, due to the limited boottime pool entropy, an adversary can derive the contents of the entropy pool by an exhaustive search of possible values, based on an observed authentication challenge. Second, an adversary can use knowledge of the entropy pool to predict authentication challenges. As such, the unit is vulnerable to CVE-2022-24400.
The product uses a Pseudo-Random Number Generator (PRNG) in a security context, but the PRNG’s algorithm is not cryptographically strong.
| Name | Vendor | Start Version | End Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mtm5500_firmware | Motorola | - (including) | - (including) |
When a non-cryptographic PRNG is used in a cryptographic context, it can expose the cryptography to certain types of attacks. Often a pseudo-random number generator (PRNG) is not designed for cryptography. Sometimes a mediocre source of randomness is sufficient or preferable for algorithms that use random numbers. Weak generators generally take less processing power and/or do not use the precious, finite, entropy sources on a system. While such PRNGs might have very useful features, these same features could be used to break the cryptography.