TLS Version 1.1 Protocol Deprecated

Overview

TLS version 1.1 has been deprecated due to inherent security vulnerabilities and the availability of more secure versions, such as TLS 1.2 and TLS 1.3. Continuing to use TLS 1.1 can expose data transmissions to increased security risks.

• Severity: High

Impact

• Vulnerability to Cyber Attacks: Continuing to support TLS 1.1 can leave an organization susceptible to newer types of cryptographic attacks that older protocols are not designed to withstand.
• Non-Compliance Risks: Many industry standards and regulations, such as PCI DSS, now require the use of TLS 1.2 or later. Non-compliance can lead to penalties and increased scrutiny.
• Reduced Data Security: Using deprecated protocols can result in compromised data integrity and confidentiality during transmission.

Cause

• Outdated Configurations: Lack of regular updates to network configurations can lead to continued support of deprecated protocols like TLS 1.1.
• Compatibility Requirements: Some organizations may delay deprecating older TLS versions to maintain compatibility with legacy systems or third-party services that have not yet upgraded.

Solution

Ensuring that all system components and client applications use TLS 1.2 or higher is critical to maintaining secure communications.

1. Update Server Configurations:

   • Modify server settings to disable TLS 1.1 and enable support for TLS 1.2 and TLS 1.3.

     For Apache:

     SSLProtocol all -SSLv3 -TLSv1 -TLSv1.1
     SSLCipherSuite HIGH:!aNULL:!MD5:!RC4
     SSLHonorCipherOrder on

     For Nginx:

     ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
     ssl_ciphers 'HIGH:!aNULL:!MD5:!RC4';
     ssl_prefer_server_ciphers on;

2. Client Software Updates:
   • Ensure that any client software interacting with your servers supports at least TLS 1.2. This may involve software upgrades or patches.
3. Monitoring and Testing:
   • Regularly test your TLS configuration to ensure compliance with the latest security standards. Tools like SSL Labs' SSL Test can be used to verify that TLS 1.1 is disabled:
     • SSL-Test

Examples

N/A

References

• Enabling TLS 1.1 and TLS 1.2 on Web Browsers
• Here’s how to disable outdated TLS and SSL versions in Apache (and why you should)

Additional Resources

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