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GHSA-m9cj-v55f-8x26 CVE-2020-27826

Authentication Bypass in keycloak

High Maven
Severity
8.8 / 10
High · CVSS 3.1
Exploit chance (EPSS)
0.57%
Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Higher than 47.29% of scored vulnerabilities.
Known exploited
No
Not in CISA's catalog
Weakness
CWE-250 Execution with Unnecessary Privileges
Fix
12.0.0
Upgrade org.keycloak:keycloak-core to this version or later

Description

A flaw was found in Keycloak before version 12.0.0 where it is possible to update the user's metadata attributes using Account REST API. This flaw allows an attacker to change its own NameID attribute to impersonate the admin user for any particular application.

Affected versions

Maven

PackageVulnerableFixed in
org.keycloak:keycloak-core
< 12.0.0
12.0.0

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.

org.keycloak:keycloak-core Maven → 12.0.0

maven
<dependency><groupId>org.keycloak</groupId><artifactId>keycloak-core</artifactId><version>12.0.0</version></dependency>
gradle
implementation("org.keycloak:keycloak-core:12.0.0")

Severity breakdown

CVSS 3.1 8.8

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

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

Weakness

CWE-250: Execution with Unnecessary Privileges

The product performs an operation at a privilege level that is higher than the minimum level required, which creates new weaknesses or amplifies the consequences of other weaknesses.

How to prevent it
  • Architecture and Design, Operation: Run your code using the lowest privileges that are required to accomplish the necessary tasks [REF-76]. If possible, create isolated accounts with limited privileges that are only used for a single task. That way, a successful attack will not immediately give the attacker access to the rest of the software or its environment. For example, database applications rarely need to run as the database administrator, especially in day-to-day operations.
  • Architecture and Design: Identify the functionality that requires additional privileges, such as access to privileged operating system resources. Wrap and centralize this functionality if possible, and isolate the privileged code as much as possible from other code [REF-76]. Raise privileges as late as possible, and drop them as soon as possible to avoid CWE-271. Avoid weaknesses such as CWE-288 and CWE-420 by protecting all possible communication channels that could interact with the privileged code, such as a secondary socket that is only intended to be accessed by administrators.
  • Architecture and Design: Identify the functionality that requires additional privileges, such as access to privileged operating system resources. Wrap and centralize this functionality if possible, and isolate the privileged code as much as possible from other code [REF-76]. Raise privileges as late as possible, and drop them as soon as possible to avoid CWE-271. Avoid weaknesses such as CWE-288 and CWE-420 by protecting all possible communication channels that could interact with the privileged code, such as a secondary socket that is only intended to be accessed by administrators.
  • Implementation: Perform extensive input validation for any privileged code that must be exposed to the user and reject anything that does not fit your strict requirements.
  • Implementation: When dropping privileges, ensure that they have been dropped successfully to avoid CWE-273. As protection mechanisms in the environment get stronger, privilege-dropping calls may fail even if it seems like they would always succeed.
  • Implementation: If circumstances force you to run with extra privileges, then determine the minimum access level necessary. First identify the different permissions that the software and its users will need to perform their actions, such as file read and write permissions, network socket permissions, and so forth. Then explicitly allow those actions while denying all else [REF-76]. Perform extensive input validation and canonicalization to minimize the chances of introducing a separate vulnerability. This mitigation is much more prone to error than dropping the privileges in the first place.
  • Operation, System Configuration: Ensure that the software runs properly under the United States Government Configuration Baseline (USGCB) [REF-199] or an equivalent hardening configuration guide, which many organizations use to limit the attack surface and potential risk of deployed software.

References

Timeline

  1. Published
  2. Last updated by the source
  3. Latest EPSS score
AdvisorySeverityWhy it's related
GHSA-q4xq-445g-g6ch
Keycloak allows cross-site scripting (XSS)
Low Also affects org.keycloak:keycloak-core
GHSA-93ww-43rr-79v3
Keycloak mTLS Authentication Bypass via Reverse Proxy TLS Termination
High Also affects org.keycloak:keycloak-core
GHSA-w97f-w3hq-36g2
Keycloak Denial of Service vulnerability
High Also affects org.keycloak:keycloak-core
GHSA-xmmm-jw76-q7vg
Keycloaks's One Time Passcode (OTP) is valid longer than expiration timeSeverity
Medium Also affects org.keycloak:keycloak-core
GHSA-g4gc-rh26-m3p5
Keycloak Open Redirect vulnerability
Medium Also affects org.keycloak:keycloak-core
GHSA-9vm7-v8wj-3fqw
keycloak-core: open redirect via "form_post.jwt" JARM response mode
Medium Also affects org.keycloak:keycloak-core
GHSA-5q66-v53q-pm35
Keycloak vulnerable to Plaintext Storage of User Password
High Also affects org.keycloak:keycloak-core
GHSA-5cc8-pgp5-7mpm
Keycloak Untrusted Certificate Validation vulnerability
Medium Also affects org.keycloak:keycloak-core
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