Use of a broken or risky cryptographic algorithm

Description

Cryptographic algorithms provide many different modes of operation, only some of which provide message integrity. Without message integrity, it could be possible for an adversary to attempt to tamper with the ciphertext, which could lead to compromising the encryption key. Newer algorithms apply message integrity to validate ciphertext has not been tampered with. Instead of using an algorithm that requires configuring a cipher mode, an algorithm that has built-in message integrity should be used. Consider using `ChaCha20Poly1305` or `AES-256-GCM` instead.

Examples

Insecure Code

javax.crypto.Cipher.getInstance("AES");

Secure Code

Cipher chaChaCipher = Cipher.getInstance("ChaCha20-Poly1305/None/NoPadding");

Remediation

Replace the used cryptographic algorithm with a secure one, such as `ChaCha20Poly1305` or `AES-256-GCM`, and ensure proper initialization and usage.

Rule Details

Field	Value
ID	CODE-0689
Category	Crypto
Severity	MEDIUM
CWE	CWE-327
Confidence	HIGH
Impact	MEDIUM
Likelihood	MEDIUM
Exploitability	MODERATE
Tags	cryptography, algorithm
OWASP	A3:2017-Sensitive Data Exposure, A02:2021-Cryptographic Failures

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