CVE-2022-36045

NodeBB Forum Software is powered by Node.js and supports either Redis, MongoDB, or a PostgreSQL database. It utilizes web sockets for instant interactions and real-time notifications. utils.generateUUID, a helper function available in essentially all versions of NodeBB (as far back as v1.0.1 and potentially earlier) used a cryptographically insecure Pseudo-random number generator (Math.random()), which meant that a specially crafted script combined with multiple invocations of the password reset functionality could enable an attacker to correctly calculate the reset code for an account they do not have access to. This vulnerability impacts all installations of NodeBB. The vulnerability allows for an attacker to take over any account without the involvement of the victim, and as such, the remediation should be applied immediately (either via NodeBB upgrade or cherry-pick of the specific changeset. The vulnerability has been patched in version 2.x and 1.19.x. There is no known workaround, but the patch sets listed above will fully patch the vulnerability.

Weakness

The product uses insufficiently random numbers or values in a security context that depends on unpredictable numbers.

Affected Software

Potential Mitigations

• Use a well-vetted algorithm that is currently considered to be strong by experts in the field, and select well-tested implementations with adequate length seeds.
• In general, if a pseudo-random number generator is not advertised as being cryptographically secure, then it is probably a statistical PRNG and should not be used in security-sensitive contexts.
• Pseudo-random number generators can produce predictable numbers if the generator is known and the seed can be guessed. A 256-bit seed is a good starting point for producing a “random enough” number.

Related Attack Patterns

• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/112.html
• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/485.html
• https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/59.html

References

• https://github.com/NodeBB/NodeBB/commit/81e3c1ba488d03371a5ce8d0ebb5c5803026e0f9
• https://github.com/NodeBB/NodeBB/commit/e802fab87f94a13f397f04cfe6068f2f7ddf7888
• https://github.com/NodeBB/NodeBB/security/advisories/GHSA-p4cc-w597-6cpm
• https://github.com/NodeBB/NodeBB/commit/81e3c1ba488d03371a5ce8d0ebb5c5803026e0f9
• https://github.com/NodeBB/NodeBB/commit/e802fab87f94a13f397f04cfe6068f2f7ddf7888
• https://github.com/NodeBB/NodeBB/security/advisories/GHSA-p4cc-w597-6cpm