CVE-2023-40173 : Security Advisory and Response

This article provides detailed information about CVE-2023-40173, focusing on the unsalted passwords vulnerability found in fobybus/social-media-skeleton.

Understanding CVE-2023-40173

CVE-2023-40173 highlights a security flaw in the fobybus/social-media-skeleton project where user passwords were left unsalted, making them vulnerable to potential cracking attacks.

What is CVE-2023-40173?

CVE-2023-40173 is classified under CWE-522: Insufficiently Protected Credentials due to the lack of proper password salting in versions prior to 1.0.5 of the social-media-skeleton project.

The Impact of CVE-2023-40173

The impact of CVE-2023-40173 is rated as HIGH based on CVSS v3.1 with a base score of 7.5. Attack complexity is rated as LOW, but the integrity impact is HIGH, signifying the severity of the vulnerability.

Technical Details of CVE-2023-40173

This section delves into the vulnerability description, affected systems, and exploitation mechanism related to CVE-2023-40173.

Vulnerability Description

Prior to version 1.0.5, fobybus/social-media-skeleton did not properly salt passwords, making user passwords susceptible to cracking in case of a security breach.

Affected Systems and Versions

The vulnerability affects versions of social-media-skeleton earlier than 1.0.5, exposing users using these versions to the unsalted passwords risk.

Exploitation Mechanism

An attacker could potentially gain access to hashed passwords due to the absence of proper salting, increasing the risk of password cracking attacks.

Mitigation and Prevention

To mitigate the risks associated with CVE-2023-40173, users and administrators are advised to take immediate steps and implement long-term security practices.

Immediate Steps to Take

Users should upgrade to version 1.0.5 of social-media-skeleton or the latest available version to address the unsalted passwords vulnerability.

Long-Term Security Practices

In the long term, users are encouraged to follow secure password management practices and stay updated on security advisories and patches for the project.

Patching and Updates

Regularly update the social-media-skeleton project to ensure that security patches and enhancements are applied promptly to safeguard against potential vulnerabilities.