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Nautobot vulnerable to exposure of hashed user passwords via REST API

High severity GitHub Reviewed Published Oct 24, 2023 in nautobot/nautobot • Updated Oct 7, 2024

Package

pip nautobot (pip)

Affected versions

>= 2.0.0, < 2.0.3

Patched versions

2.0.3

Description

Impact

In Nautobot 2.0.x, certain REST API endpoints, in combination with the ?depth=<N> query parameter, can expose hashed user passwords as stored in the database to any authenticated user with access to these endpoints.

The passwords are not exposed in plaintext.
Nautobot 1.x is not affected by this vulnerability.

Example:

GET /api/users/permissions/?depth=1

HTTP 200 OK
API-Version: 2.0
Allow: GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "count": 1,
    "next": null,
    "previous": null,
    "results": [
        {
            "id": "28ea85e4-5039-4389-94f1-9a3e1c787149",
            "object_type": "users.objectpermission",
            "display": "Run Job",
            "url": "http://localhost:8080/api/users/permissions/28ea85e4-5039-4389-94f1-9a3e1c787149/",
            "natural_slug": "run-job_28ea",
            "object_types": [
                "extras.job"
            ],
            "name": "Run Job",
            "description": "",
            "enabled": true,
            "actions": [
                "run",
                "view"
            ],
            "constraints": null,
            "groups": [
                {
                    "id": 1,
                    "object_type": "auth.group",
                    "display": "A Group",
                    "url": "http://localhost:8080/api/users/groups/1/",
                    "natural_slug": "a-group_1",
                    "name": "A Group"
                }
            ],
            "users": [
                {
                    "id": "e73288e2-1326-4bfb-8fea-041290dd7473",
                    "object_type": "users.user",
                    "display": "admin",
                    "url": "http://localhost:8080/api/users/users/e73288e2-1326-4bfb-8fea-041290dd7473/",
                    "natural_slug": "admin_e732",
                    "password": "pbkdf2_sha256$260000$jQb7hA48HYJ0MLWQgOZiBl$b72+gz6SpZiRpxceRQfT5Zv/aUac0eJ4NdBTZ8ECOow=",
                    "last_login": "2023-10-18T14:19:08.780857Z",
                    "is_superuser": true,
                    "username": "admin",
                    "first_name": "",
                    "last_name": "",
                    "email": "",
                    "is_staff": true,
                    "is_active": true,
                    "date_joined": "2023-10-18T14:18:55.854023Z",
                    "config_data": {}
                }
            ]
        }
    ]
}

Note the "password" field present in the nested "users" data.

This information is not exposed during direct access to the /api/users/users/ endpoint, but can be exposed through any endpoint which contains a nested reference to User object(s) when an appropriate ?depth=<N> query parameter is specified. Known impacted endpoints include:

  • /api/dcim/rack-reservations/?depth=1(or any greater depth value)
  • /api/extras/job-results/?depth=1 (or any greater depth value)
  • /api/extras/notes/?depth=1 (or any greater depth value)
  • /api/extras/object-changes/?depth=1 (or any greater depth value)
  • /api/extras/scheduled-jobs/?depth=1 (or any greater depth value)
  • /api/users/permissions/?depth=1 (or any greater depth value)

but this is not necessarily an exhaustive list.

Plugin REST API endpoints for any models with a foreign key to the User model may also be impacted by this issue.

The patch identified below mitigates the issue for both Nautobot core REST APIs and plugin REST APIs; no code change in plugins is required to address this issue.

Patches

Refer to nautobot/nautobot#4692 for the patch that resolved this issue.

Workarounds

Upgrading to v2.0.3 or later, or applying the above patch, is the preferred workaround for this issue; while it could also be partially mitigated by updating permissions to deny user access to the above list of impacted REST API endpoints, that is not recommended as other endpoints may also expose this issue until patched.

References

nautobot/nautobot#4692

References

@glennmatthews glennmatthews published to nautobot/nautobot Oct 24, 2023
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Oct 24, 2023
Reviewed Oct 24, 2023
Published by the National Vulnerability Database Oct 25, 2023
Last updated Oct 7, 2024

Severity

High

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v4 base metrics

Exploitability Metrics
Attack Vector Network
Attack Complexity Low
Attack Requirements None
Privileges Required Low
User interaction None
Vulnerable System Impact Metrics
Confidentiality High
Integrity None
Availability None
Subsequent System Impact Metrics
Confidentiality High
Integrity None
Availability None

CVSS v4 base metrics

Exploitability Metrics
Attack Vector: This metric reflects the context by which vulnerability exploitation is possible. This metric value (and consequently the resulting severity) will be larger the more remote (logically, and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerable system. The assumption is that the number of potential attackers for a vulnerability that could be exploited from across a network is larger than the number of potential attackers that could exploit a vulnerability requiring physical access to a device, and therefore warrants a greater severity.
Attack Complexity: This metric captures measurable actions that must be taken by the attacker to actively evade or circumvent existing built-in security-enhancing conditions in order to obtain a working exploit. These are conditions whose primary purpose is to increase security and/or increase exploit engineering complexity. A vulnerability exploitable without a target-specific variable has a lower complexity than a vulnerability that would require non-trivial customization. This metric is meant to capture security mechanisms utilized by the vulnerable system.
Attack Requirements: This metric captures the prerequisite deployment and execution conditions or variables of the vulnerable system that enable the attack. These differ from security-enhancing techniques/technologies (ref Attack Complexity) as the primary purpose of these conditions is not to explicitly mitigate attacks, but rather, emerge naturally as a consequence of the deployment and execution of the vulnerable system.
Privileges Required: This metric describes the level of privileges an attacker must possess prior to successfully exploiting the vulnerability. The method by which the attacker obtains privileged credentials prior to the attack (e.g., free trial accounts), is outside the scope of this metric. Generally, self-service provisioned accounts do not constitute a privilege requirement if the attacker can grant themselves privileges as part of the attack.
User interaction: This metric captures the requirement for a human user, other than the attacker, to participate in the successful compromise of the vulnerable system. This metric determines whether the vulnerability can be exploited solely at the will of the attacker, or whether a separate user (or user-initiated process) must participate in some manner.
Vulnerable System Impact Metrics
Confidentiality: This metric measures the impact to the confidentiality of the information managed by the VULNERABLE SYSTEM due to a successfully exploited vulnerability. Confidentiality refers to limiting information access and disclosure to only authorized users, as well as preventing access by, or disclosure to, unauthorized ones.
Integrity: This metric measures the impact to integrity of a successfully exploited vulnerability. Integrity refers to the trustworthiness and veracity of information. Integrity of the VULNERABLE SYSTEM is impacted when an attacker makes unauthorized modification of system data. Integrity is also impacted when a system user can repudiate critical actions taken in the context of the system (e.g. due to insufficient logging).
Availability: This metric measures the impact to the availability of the VULNERABLE SYSTEM resulting from a successfully exploited vulnerability. While the Confidentiality and Integrity impact metrics apply to the loss of confidentiality or integrity of data (e.g., information, files) used by the system, this metric refers to the loss of availability of the impacted system itself, such as a networked service (e.g., web, database, email). Since availability refers to the accessibility of information resources, attacks that consume network bandwidth, processor cycles, or disk space all impact the availability of a system.
Subsequent System Impact Metrics
Confidentiality: This metric measures the impact to the confidentiality of the information managed by the SUBSEQUENT SYSTEM due to a successfully exploited vulnerability. Confidentiality refers to limiting information access and disclosure to only authorized users, as well as preventing access by, or disclosure to, unauthorized ones.
Integrity: This metric measures the impact to integrity of a successfully exploited vulnerability. Integrity refers to the trustworthiness and veracity of information. Integrity of the SUBSEQUENT SYSTEM is impacted when an attacker makes unauthorized modification of system data. Integrity is also impacted when a system user can repudiate critical actions taken in the context of the system (e.g. due to insufficient logging).
Availability: This metric measures the impact to the availability of the SUBSEQUENT SYSTEM resulting from a successfully exploited vulnerability. While the Confidentiality and Integrity impact metrics apply to the loss of confidentiality or integrity of data (e.g., information, files) used by the system, this metric refers to the loss of availability of the impacted system itself, such as a networked service (e.g., web, database, email). Since availability refers to the accessibility of information resources, attacks that consume network bandwidth, processor cycles, or disk space all impact the availability of a system.
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:N/SA:N

EPSS score

0.094%
(41st percentile)

Weaknesses

CVE ID

CVE-2023-46128

GHSA ID

GHSA-r2hw-74xv-4gqp

Source code

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