Hackers can now see private discussions thanks to an OpenSSL bug

A researcher has uncovered another severe vulnerability in the OpenSSL cryptographic library. It allows attackers to decrypt and modify Web, e-mail, and virtual private network traffic protected by the transport layer security (TLS) protocol, the Internet’s most widely used method for encrypting traffic traveling between end users and servers. The TLS bypass exploits work only when traffic is sent or received by a server running OpenSSL 1.0.1 and 1.0.2-beta1, maintainers of the open-source library warned in an advisory published Thursday. The advisory went on to say that servers running a version earlier than 1.0.1 should update as a precaution. The vulnerability has existed since the first release of OpenSSL, some 16 years ago. Library updates are available on the front page of the OpenSSL website. People who administer servers running OpenSSL should update as soon as possible.