OpenSSL has added support for TLS_FALLBACK_SCSV to allow applications to block the ability for a MITM attacker to force a protocol downgrade. Some client applications (such as browsers) will reconnect using a downgraded protocol to work around interoperability bugs in older servers. This could be exploited by an active man-in-the-middle to downgrade connections to SSL 3.0 even if both sides of the connection support higher protocols. SSL 3.0 contains a number of weaknesses including POODLE (CVE-2014-3566). http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2014-3568