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GHSA-vmm6-w4cf-7f3x

HighCVSS 8.7 / 10
Published Jan 30, 2020·Last modified Mar 14, 2026
Affected Components(0)

No affected components available

Description

Impact

Using a remember-me cookie with an arbitrary username can cause Opencast to assume proper authentication for that user even if the remember-me cookie was incorrect given that the attacked endpoint also allows anonymous access.

This way, an attacker can, for example, fake a remember-me token, assume the identity of the global system administrator and request non-public content from the search service without ever providing any proper authentication.

Patches

This problem is fixed in Opencast 7.6 and Opencast 8.1

Workarounds

As a workaround for older, unpatched versions, disabling remember-me cookies in etc/security/mh_default_org.xml will mitigate the problem but will obviously also disable this feature without obvious indication. To deactivate this, remove the following line from the security configuration:

<sec:remember-me … />

References

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

  • Open an issue in opencast/opencast
  • For security-relevant information, email us at security@opencast.org
Risk Scores
Base Score
8.7

The vulnerability can be exploited over the network without needing physical access. It is easy for an attacker to exploit this vulnerability. An attacker needs basic access or low-level privileges. The attacker needs the user to perform some action, like clicking a link. The vulnerability can affect other systems as well, not just the initial system. There is a high impact on the confidentiality of the information. There is a high impact on the integrity of the data.

Threat Intelligence
8.0

Exploitation activity has been observed. Apply available patches or mitigations urgently.

EPSS
1.29%

The exploit probability is very low. The vulnerability is unlikely to be exploited in the next 30 days.

Exploit
Not available

We did not find any exploit available. Neither in GitHub repositories nor in the Exploit-Database.

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