Electron is a framework for writing cross-platform desktop applications using JavaScript, HTML and CSS. Prior to versions 38.8.6, 39.8.0, 40.7.0, and 41.0.0-beta.8, the select-usb-device event callback did not validate the chosen device ID against the filtered list that was presented to the handler. An app whose handler could be influenced to select a device ID outside the filtered set would grant access to a device that did not match the renderers requested filters or was listed in exclusionFilters. The WebUSB security blocklist remained enforced regardless, so security-sensitive devices on the blocklist were not affected. The practical impact is limited to apps with unusual device-selection logic. This issue has been patched in versions 38.8.6, 39.8.0, 40.7.0, and 41.0.0-beta.8.
Weakness
The product does not perform an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action.
Affected Software
| Name | Vendor | Start Version | End Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electron | Electronjs | * | 38.8.6 (excluding) |
| Electron | Electronjs | 39.0.0 (including) | 39.8.0 (excluding) |
| Electron | Electronjs | 40.0.0 (including) | 40.7.0 (excluding) |
| Electron | Electronjs | 41.0.0-alpha1 (including) | 41.0.0-alpha1 (including) |
| Electron | Electronjs | 41.0.0-alpha2 (including) | 41.0.0-alpha2 (including) |
| Electron | Electronjs | 41.0.0-alpha3 (including) | 41.0.0-alpha3 (including) |
| Electron | Electronjs | 41.0.0-alpha4 (including) | 41.0.0-alpha4 (including) |
| Electron | Electronjs | 41.0.0-alpha5 (including) | 41.0.0-alpha5 (including) |
| Electron | Electronjs | 41.0.0-alpha6 (including) | 41.0.0-alpha6 (including) |
| Electron | Electronjs | 41.0.0-beta1 (including) | 41.0.0-beta1 (including) |
| Electron | Electronjs | 41.0.0-beta2 (including) | 41.0.0-beta2 (including) |
| Electron | Electronjs | 41.0.0-beta3 (including) | 41.0.0-beta3 (including) |
| Electron | Electronjs | 41.0.0-beta4 (including) | 41.0.0-beta4 (including) |
| Electron | Electronjs | 41.0.0-beta5 (including) | 41.0.0-beta5 (including) |
| Electron | Electronjs | 41.0.0-beta6 (including) | 41.0.0-beta6 (including) |
| Electron | Electronjs | 41.0.0-beta7 (including) | 41.0.0-beta7 (including) |
Potential Mitigations
- Divide the product into anonymous, normal, privileged, and administrative areas. Reduce the attack surface by carefully mapping roles with data and functionality. Use role-based access control (RBAC) [REF-229] to enforce the roles at the appropriate boundaries.
- Note that this approach may not protect against horizontal authorization, i.e., it will not protect a user from attacking others with the same role.
- Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
- For example, consider using authorization frameworks such as the JAAS Authorization Framework [REF-233] and the OWASP ESAPI Access Control feature [REF-45].
- For web applications, make sure that the access control mechanism is enforced correctly at the server side on every page. Users should not be able to access any unauthorized functionality or information by simply requesting direct access to that page.
- One way to do this is to ensure that all pages containing sensitive information are not cached, and that all such pages restrict access to requests that are accompanied by an active and authenticated session token associated with a user who has the required permissions to access that page.