CVE Vulnerabilities

CVE-2019-18988

Weak Password Requirements

Published: Feb 07, 2020 | Modified: Aug 24, 2020
CVSS 3.x
7
HIGH
Source:
NVD
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS 2.x
4.4 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
RedHat/V2
RedHat/V3
Ubuntu

TeamViewer Desktop through 14.7.1965 allows a bypass of remote-login access control because the same key is used for different customers installations. It used a shared AES key for all installations since at least as far back as v7.0.43148, and used it for at least OptionsPasswordAES in the current version of the product. If an attacker were to know this key, they could decrypt protect information stored in the registry or configuration files of TeamViewer. With versions before v9.x , this allowed for attackers to decrypt the Unattended Access password to the system (which allows for remote login to the system as well as headless file browsing). The latest version still uses the same key for OptionPasswordAES but appears to have changed how the Unattended Access password is stored. While in most cases an attacker requires an existing session on a system, if the registry/configuration keys were stored off of the machine (such as in a file share or online), an attacker could then decrypt the required password to login to the system.

Weakness

The product does not require that users should have strong passwords, which makes it easier for attackers to compromise user accounts.

Affected Software

Name Vendor Start Version End Version
Teamviewer Teamviewer * 14.7.1965 (including)

Potential Mitigations

  • A product’s design should require adherance to an appropriate password policy. Specific password requirements depend strongly on contextual factors, but it is recommended to contain the following attributes:

  • Depending on the threat model, the password policy may include several additional attributes.

  • See NIST 800-63B [REF-1053] for further information on password requirements.

References