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GHSA-23r4-5mxp-c7g5 BIT-parse-2021-39138 CVE-2021-39138

parse-server new anonymous user session acts as if it's created with password

Medium npm
Severity
4.8 / 10
Medium · CVSS 3.1
Exploit chance (EPSS)
0.99%
Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Higher than 62.63% of scored vulnerabilities.
Known exploited
No
Not in CISA's catalog
Weakness
CWE-287 Improper Authentication
CWE-863 Incorrect Authorization
Fix
4.5.2
Upgrade parse-server to this version or later

Description

Impact

Developers that use the REST API to signup users and also allow users to login anonymously. When an anonymous user is first signed up using REST, the server creates session incorrectly, particularly the authProvider field in _Session class under createdWith shows the user logged in creating a password. If a developer later depends on the createdWith field to provide a different level of access between a password user and anonymous user, the server incorrectly classified the session type as being created with a password.

The server currently doesn't use createdWith to make decisions on how things work internally, so if a developer isn't using createdWith directly, there's nothing to worry about. The vulnerability only affects users who depend on createdWith by using it directly.

Patches

Upgrade to version 4.5.1.

Workarounds

Don't use the createdWith Session field to make decisions if you allow anonymous login.

References

n/a

Affected versions

npm

PackageVulnerableFixed in
parse-server
< 4.5.2
4.5.2

How to fix

Move to the fixed version or later with your package manager, update the lockfile, and run your tests. If the package only arrives through another dependency, upgrade that dependency first. If none of its releases pulls a fixed version yet, force the version with your package manager's override.

parse-server npm → 4.5.2

npm
npm install parse-server@4.5.2
yarn
yarn add parse-server@4.5.2
pnpm
pnpm add parse-server@4.5.2

Severity breakdown

CVSS 3.1 4.8

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
High
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

Weakness

CWE-287: Improper Authentication

When an actor claims to have a given identity, the product does not prove or insufficiently proves that the claim is correct.

How to prevent it
  • Architecture and Design: Use an authentication framework or library such as the OWASP ESAPI Authentication feature.

CWE-863: Incorrect Authorization

The product performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action, but it does not correctly perform the check.

How to prevent it
  • Architecture and Design: Divide the product into anonymous, normal, privileged, and administrative areas. Reduce the attack surface by carefully mapping roles with data and functionality. Use role-based access control (RBAC) [REF-229] to enforce the roles at the appropriate boundaries. Note that this approach may not protect against horizontal authorization, i.e., it will not protect a user from attacking others with the same role.
  • Architecture and Design: Ensure that access control checks are performed related to the business logic. These checks may be different than the access control checks that are applied to more generic resources such as files, connections, processes, memory, and database records. For example, a database may restrict access for medical records to a specific database user, but each record might only be intended to be accessible to the patient and the patient's doctor [REF-7].
  • Architecture and Design: Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid. For example, consider using authorization frameworks such as the JAAS Authorization Framework [REF-233] and the OWASP ESAPI Access Control feature [REF-45].
  • Architecture and Design: For web applications, make sure that the access control mechanism is enforced correctly at the server side on every page. Users should not be able to access any unauthorized functionality or information by simply requesting direct access to that page. One way to do this is to ensure that all pages containing sensitive information are not cached, and that all such pages restrict access to requests that are accompanied by an active and authenticated session token associated with a user who has the required permissions to access that page.
  • System Configuration, Installation: Use the access control capabilities of your operating system and server environment and define your access control lists accordingly. Use a "default deny" policy when defining these ACLs.

References

Timeline

  1. Published
  2. Last updated by the source
  3. Latest EPSS score
AdvisorySeverityWhy it's related
GHSA-r899-h629-j84r
Parse Server vulnerable to stored XSS via malformed Content-Type bypassing file upload extension blocklist
Low Also affects parse-server
GHSA-97pr-9hgg-3p8r
parse-server: LiveQuery discloses object data to a subscriber across an ACL read-access change
Low Also affects parse-server
GHSA-v8x7-r927-cc93
parse-server: Stored XSS via non-standard file extension bypassing file upload extension blocklist
Low Also affects parse-server
GHSA-cgxm-vr2f-6fj8
parse-server: Denial of service via exponential-time processing of deeply nested query operators
High Also affects parse-server
GHSA-wmwx-jr2p-4j4r
parse-server: Relation `$relatedTo` query bypasses `protectedFields` and owning-object ACL
Medium Also affects parse-server
GHSA-75v4-m273-5j49
parse-server: Endpoints `/login` and `/verifyPassword` disclose MFA secrets and protected fields when `_User` get is denied
Medium Also affects parse-server
GHSA-7wqv-xjf3-x35v
parse-server: Stored XSS via trailing-dot filename bypassing file upload extension blocklist
Low Also affects parse-server
GHSA-p84r-h6rx-f2xr
parse-server: Server option routeAllowList is bypassable through batch sub-requests
Medium Also affects parse-server
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