CyberSecBulletin
CVE-2024-40597NVD status: Analyzed

mediawiki: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor

CVE-2024-40597 is a high-severity exposure of sensitive information to an unauthorized actor vulnerability in mediawiki, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.5 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. Affected mediawiki versions: 1.42.1 and earlier. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.4% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.

Next patch cycle

High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.

What to do

  1. Check which version of mediawiki you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.
  2. Read the advisory on phabricator.wikimedia.org for workarounds and exact fixed builds.
  3. Until you can update, restrict network access to the affected service so it is not reachable from untrusted networks.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
MediaWikimediawiki1.42.1 and earlierNot stated

Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.

How the severity score breaks down

Attack vector
NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
Attack complexity
LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
Privileges required
NoneNo account or login is needed.
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
NoneNothing can be modified.
Availability
NoneAvailability is not affected.

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N. Scored by CISA (ADP).

Official description

An issue was discovered in the CheckUser extension for MediaWiki through 1.42.1. It can expose suppressed information for log events. (The log_deleted attribute is not respected.)

Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.

The underlying weakness: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor

The product exposes sensitive information to an actor that is not explicitly authorized to have access to that information.

How developers prevent this class of flaw

  • Compartmentalize the system to have safe areas where trust boundaries can be unambiguously drawn. Do not allow sensitive data to go outside of the trust boundary and always be careful when interfacing with a compartment outside of the safe area. Ensure that appropriate compartmentalization is built into the system design, and the compartmentalization allows for and reinforces privilege separation functionality. Architects and designers should rely on the principle of least privilege to decide the appropriate time to use privileges and the time to drop privileges.

More Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor vulnerabilities (CWE-200)

Timeline

  1. CVE record published.
  2. CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: yes, technical impact: partial).
  3. Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).

References

Advisories

Other vulnerabilities in mediawiki

All mediawiki vulnerabilities

Recent Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor vulnerabilities

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