Improper Privilege Management in NodeBB

1) Improper Privilege Management

EUVDB-ID: #VU46357

Risk: Medium

CVSSv3.1: 3.4 [CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:N/E:U/RL:O/RC:C]

CVE-ID: CVE-2020-15149

CWE-ID: CWE-269 - Improper Privilege Management

Exploit availability: Yes

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote authenticated user to escalate privileges within the application.

NodeBB before version 1.14.3 has a bug introduced in version 1.12.2 in the validation logic that makes it possible to change the password of any user on a running NodeBB forum by sending a specially crafted socket.io call to the server. This could lead to a privilege escalation event due via an account takeover.

Mitigation

Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

NodeBB: 1.12.2 - 1.14.2

External links

http://github.com/NodeBB/NodeBB/commit/c2477d9d5ffc43e5ffeb537ea2ceb4ce9592aa39
http://github.com/NodeBB/NodeBB/security/advisories/GHSA-hr66-c8pg-5mg7
http://zeroauth.ltd/blog/2020/08/20/proof-of-concept-exploit-for-cve-2020-15149-nodebb-arbitrary-user-password-change/

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Yes. This vulnerability can be exploited by a remote non-authenticated attacker via the Internet.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.