CVE-2016-1000236: cookie-signature Timing Attack
Summary
CVE-2016-1000236: cookie-signature Timing Attack. Affects cookie-signature versions < 1.0.4. Fixed in 1.0.4. How to fix ↓
Also tracked for
- node-cookie-signature · Debian:11
The same CVE-2016-1000236 is tracked separately for each ecosystem and vendor. Its fix information is the same; the package and affected versions differ.
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Background
The cookie-signature package is an npm package used for signing and verifying cookies in web applications. It provides a mechanism to ensure the integrity and authenticity of cookies by adding a signature to them. The package is widely used in Node.js applications for session management and cookie-based authentication. However, versions prior to 1.0.4 are vulnerable to a timing attack.
Vulnerability Detail
The vulnerability in cookie-signature arises from the use of a fail-early comparison instead of a constant-time comparison. This makes it susceptible to timing attacks, where an attacker can exploit minuscule timing differences to guess the secret used for signing cookies. By providing per-character feedback on the correctness of a guess, an attacker can significantly reduce the number of guesses required to guess the secret. Under favorable network conditions, the attacker can guess the secret in no more than charset*length guesses, instead of charset^length guesses required without the timing attack. This vulnerability has a CVSS score of 4.4 (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N).
How To Fix
Minimum fixed version
1.0.4
This is the first release that contains the fix.
npm install cookie-signature@1.0.4Tip — Not sure which version your app runs? Vulert can match this fix to it. Scan free →
Conclusion
The cookie-signature package prior to version 1.0.4 is vulnerable to a timing attack, which can allow an attacker to guess the secret used for signing cookies. To mitigate this vulnerability, it is recommended to update to version 1.0.4 or later. For further support on vulnerability remediation, you can contact DevNack.com.
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FAQ
The vulnerability allows an attacker to guess the secret used for signing cookies in a significantly reduced number of guesses. This can lead to unauthorized access, session hijacking, and other security breaches.
You can use Vulert's playground at Vulert Scanner to check if your application is affected by this vulnerability. Vulert monitors and alerts in real-time for open-source vulnerabilities using just the package-lock.json file.
No, there are no known workarounds for this vulnerability. It is recommended to update to the fixed version of the cookie-signature package.
No, there is no known exploit code available for this vulnerability at the moment.
You can find more information about this vulnerability in the GitHub Advisory Database at https://github.com/github/advisory-database/advisories/GHSA-92vm-wfm5-mxvv.
