Denial of Service Vulnerability in Django Authentication Framework
Summary
CVE-2013-1443: The authentication framework (django.contrib.auth) in Django 1.4.x before 1.4.8, 1.5.x before 1.5.4, and 1.6.x before 1.6 beta 4 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) via a long password... Affects python-django versions < 1.5.4-1. Fixed in 1.5.4-1. How to fix ↓
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Background
Django is a high-level Python web framework that encourages rapid development and clean, pragmatic design. It provides a robust authentication framework (django.contrib.auth) that manages user accounts, groups, permissions, and cookie-based user sessions. However, certain versions of Django are vulnerable to a denial of service attack due to inefficient handling of long passwords during the hashing process.
Vulnerability Detail
The vulnerability (CVE-2013-1443) exists in Django versions 1.4.x before 1.4.8, 1.5.x before 1.5.4, and 1.6.x before 1.6 beta 4. It allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service by submitting excessively long passwords, which leads to high CPU consumption as the system attempts to hash these passwords. This can result in degraded performance or complete unavailability of the application, impacting user experience and service reliability.
How To Fix
Minimum fixed version
1.5.4-1
This is the first release that contains the fix.
sudo apt-get install --only-upgrade python-djangoTip — Not sure which version your app runs? Vulert can match this fix to it. Scan free →
Workaround
As a temporary measure, you can implement input validation to limit the length of passwords accepted by your application. For example, you can enforce a maximum password length of 128 characters in your user registration and authentication forms.
Conclusion
The CVE-2013-1443 vulnerability in Django's authentication framework poses a significant risk of denial of service due to inefficient password handling. It is crucial to upgrade to a secure version of Django and implement input validation as a temporary measure to protect your application.
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FAQ
CVE-2013-1443 is a vulnerability in the Django authentication framework that allows remote attackers to cause denial of service through long password submissions.
Django versions 1.4.x before 1.4.8, 1.5.x before 1.5.4, and 1.6.x before 1.6 beta 4 are affected by this vulnerability.
You can use Vulert to monitor and alert for open-source vulnerabilities in your software. Simply upload your manifest file like package-lock.json to check for vulnerabilities.
The vulnerability can lead to high CPU consumption and denial of service, making the application slow or completely unavailable to users.
Yes, you can implement input validation to restrict the maximum length of passwords accepted by your application as a temporary workaround.
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