java.lang.security.audit.crypto.use-of-rc4.use-of-rc4

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Use of RC4 was detected. RC4 is vulnerable to several attacks, including stream cipher attacks and bit flipping attacks. Instead, use a strong, secure cipher: Cipher.getInstance("AES/CBC/PKCS7PADDING"). See https://owasp.org/www-community/Using_the_Java_Cryptographic_Extensions for more information.

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Defintion

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rules:
  - id: use-of-rc4
    pattern: $CIPHER.getInstance("RC4")
    metadata:
      functional-categories:
        - crypto::search::symmetric-algorithm::javax.crypto
      cwe:
        - "CWE-327: Use of a Broken or Risky Cryptographic Algorithm"
      owasp:
        - A03:2017 - Sensitive Data Exposure
        - A02:2021 - Cryptographic Failures
      category: security
      technology:
        - java
      references:
        - https://owasp.org/Top10/A02_2021-Cryptographic_Failures
        - https://googleprojectzero.blogspot.com/2022/10/rc4-is-still-considered-harmful.html
      subcategory:
        - vuln
      likelihood: MEDIUM
      impact: MEDIUM
      confidence: HIGH
      license: Commons Clause License Condition v1.0[LGPL-2.1-only]
      vulnerability_class:
        - Cryptographic Issues
    message: 'Use of RC4 was detected. RC4 is vulnerable to several attacks,
      including stream cipher attacks and bit flipping attacks. Instead, use a
      strong, secure cipher: Cipher.getInstance("AES/CBC/PKCS7PADDING"). See
      https://owasp.org/www-community/Using_the_Java_Cryptographic_Extensions
      for more information.'
    severity: WARNING
    languages:
      - java

Examples

use-of-rc4.java

class RC4{
  public void useofRC4() {
    // ruleid: use-of-rc4 
    Cipher.getInstance("RC4");
  }

  public void useofRC4b() {
    // ruleid: use-of-rc4 
    useCipher(Cipher.getInstance("RC4"));
  }

  public void ok() {
    // ok: use-of-rc4 
    Cipher.getInstance("AES/CBC/PKCS7PADDING");
  }
}