CVE-2020-5229 Opencast stores passwords using outdated MD5 hash algorithm
Opencast uses insecure MD5 hashing with predictable salts, allowing attackers with database access to potentially recover user passwords.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- A user has to click or open something
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2020-5229?
CVE-2020-5229 is a high-severity vulnerability in opencast, published on 30 Jan 2020. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Official description
Opencast before 8.1 stores passwords using the rather outdated and cryptographically insecure MD5 hash algorithm. Furthermore, the hashes are salted using the username instead of a random salt, causing hashes for users with the same username and password to collide which is problematic especially for popular users like the default `admin` user. This essentially means that for an attacker, it might be feasible to reconstruct a user's password given access to these hashes. Note that attackers needing access to the hashes means that they must gain access to the database in which these are stored first to be able to start cracking the passwords. The problem is addressed in Opencast 8.1 which now uses the modern and much stronger bcrypt password hashing algorithm for storing passwords. Note, that old hashes remain MD5 until the password is updated. For a list of users whose password hashes are stored using MD5, take a look at the `/user-utils/users/md5.json` REST endpoint.
Weakness: CWE-327
Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-5229?
4 open source packages ship an affected version, including org.opencastproject:opencast-common-jpa-impl. It affects 1 product.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
org.opencastproject:opencast-common-jpa-impl Maven | All versions | 7.6 |
org.opencastproject:opencast-common-jpa-impl Maven | All versions | 7.6 |
org.opencastproject:opencast-common-jpa-impl Maven | From 8.0 | 8.1 |
org.opencastproject:opencast-common-jpa-impl Maven | From 8.0 | 8.1 |
Products include Apereo Opencast.
How do I fix CVE-2020-5229?
Upgrade org.opencastproject:opencast-common-jpa-impl to a fixed version for your release line: 7.6 or 8.1.
Is CVE-2020-5229 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-5229 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in opencast
- CVE-2021-43821 Files Accessible to External Parties in Opencast
- CVE-2020-5206 Authentication Bypass For Endpoints With Anonymous Access in OpenCast
- CVE-2021-32623 Opencast vulnerable to billion laughs attack (XML bomb)
- CVE-2020-5230 Opencast uses unsafe identifiers
- CVE-2020-5228 Opencast allows unauthorized public access via OAI-PMH
Sources
Also known as GHSA-h362-m8f2-5x7c.