Serene: Weak Password Recovery Mechanism for Forgotten Password
CVE-2023-31287 is a high-severity weak password recovery mechanism for forgotten password vulnerability in Serene from Serenity, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.8 out of 10. It can be exploited with local access to the system by an attacker with a low-privileged account, without any action from a user. The record lists version 6.7.0 as the first without the flaw, so updating Serene to that release or later removes the exposure. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.43% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.
What to do
- Update Serene to 6.7.0 or a later version.
- Update Startsharp to 6.7.0 or a later version.
- Read the advisory on github.com for workarounds and exact fixed builds.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serenity | Serene | before 6.7.0 | 6.7.0 |
| Serenity | Startsharp | before 6.7.0 | 6.7.0 |
Version data comes from NVD's product matching. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.
How the severity score breaks down
- Attack vector
- LocalThe attacker needs local access or must trick a user into running something.
- Attack complexity
- LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
- Privileges required
- LowA basic user account is enough.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Scope
- UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
- Confidentiality
- HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
- Integrity
- HighData or code can be modified at will.
- Availability
- HighThe component can be taken down completely.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by NVD.
| Scoring system | Score | Severity | Scored by |
|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 3.1 | 7.8 | High | NVD |
| CVSS 3.1 | 7.8 | High | CISA (ADP) |
Official description
An issue was discovered in Serenity Serene (and StartSharp) before 6.7.0. Password reset links are sent by email. A link contains a token that is used to reset the password. This token remains valid even after the password reset and can be used a second time to change the password of the corresponding user. The token expires only 3 hours after issuance and is sent as a query parameter when resetting. An attacker with access to the browser history can thus use the token again to change the password in order to take over the account.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Weak Password Recovery Mechanism for Forgotten Password
The product contains a mechanism for users to recover or change their passwords without knowing the original password, but the mechanism is weak.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- Make sure that all input supplied by the user to the password recovery mechanism is thoroughly filtered and validated.
- Do not use standard weak security questions and use several security questions.
- Make sure that there is throttling on the number of incorrect answers to a security question. Disable the password recovery functionality after a certain (small) number of incorrect guesses.
More Weak Password Recovery Mechanism for Forgotten Password vulnerabilities (CWE-640)
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: total).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Other references
Recent Weak Password Recovery Mechanism for Forgotten Password vulnerabilities
- 9.8 Critical severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 9.8 Critical severity
- 9.8 Critical severity
- 9.8 Critical severity
- 8.1 High severity
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