Vulnerability · Published Aug 31, 2022 · Assigned by GitHub_M
CVE-2022-36045Account takeover via cryptographically weak PRNG in NodeBB Forum
Critical 9.0
In plain English
A critical-severity weak randomness in NodeBB from NodeBB. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 1.3% (higher than 72% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.
Official description
NodeBB Forum Software is powered by Node.js and supports either Redis, MongoDB, or a PostgreSQL database. It utilizes web sockets for instant interactions and real-time notifications. `utils.generateUUID`, a helper function available in essentially all versions of NodeBB (as far back as v1.0.1 and potentially earlier) used a cryptographically insecure Pseudo-random number generator (`Math.random()`), which meant that a specially crafted script combined with multiple invocations of the password reset functionality could enable an attacker to correctly calculate the reset code for an account they do not have access to. This vulnerability impacts all installations of NodeBB. The vulnerability allows for an attacker to take over any account without the involvement of the victim, and as such, the remediation should be applied immediately (either via NodeBB upgrade or cherry-pick of the specific changeset. The vulnerability has been patched in version 2.x and 1.19.x. There is no known workaround, but the patch sets listed above will fully patch the vulnerability.
Affected packages & fixed versions
| Ecosystem | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| npm | nodebb | 1.19.8 | GHSA-p4cc-w597-6cpm |
| npm | nodebb | 2.0.1 | GHSA-p4cc-w597-6cpm |
Affected products (as reported)
Weakness: CWE-330, CWE-338 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H