The Tortoise and the Hare: The “Terrapin Attack” on SSH Protocol

Unraveling the “Terrapin Attack” on the SSH protocol. How a Man-in-the-Middle attacker could play with the early encrypted SSH transport protocol, and how Debian has swooped in for the rescue.

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Well, it appears that the much-loved SSH protocol has been caught with its encryption pants down! The "Terrapin Attack," as it is snazzily titled, is a clever little trick that allows a Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attacker to sneakily mess with the integrity of the early encrypted SSH transport protocol. Apparently, the attacker sends some extra messages before the encryption kicks in. Then, as soon as the encryption starts, the same number of messages get deleted. It's like the digital version of a pickpocket wearing a magician's cloak. Quite the plot twist for the SSH protocol, isn't it?

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