CVE-2020-5224: Django user sessions Session Key Exposure Through Session Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-5fq8-3q2f-4m5g
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CVSS 6.5
CWE-287
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2020-5224 is a MODERATE (CVSS 6.5) session key exposure through session vulnerability (CWE-287: Improper Authentication) affecting Django user sessions libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves session key exposure through session list in django user sessions. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 1.7.1.

CVE-2020-5224 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2020-5224
GHSA Identifier GHSA-5fq8-3q2f-4m5g
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 6.5
CWE Classification CWE-287: Improper Authentication
Affected Product Django user sessions
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 6.5

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:N).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity High (AC:H)
Privileges Required Low (PR:L)
User Interaction Required (UI:R)
Scope Changed (S:C)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity Low (I:L)
Availability None (A:N)

How to Fix CVE-2020-5224

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Django user sessions dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

django-user-sessions fixed: 1.7.1 
pip install django-user-sessions>=1.7.1
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

pip show django-user-sessions

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Python environment is affected by CVE-2020-5224, inspect your installed packages using pip:

pip show django-user-sessions

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Django user sessions in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 1.7.1), your application is affected.

Note: The pip show django-user-sessions command checks currently installed packages in your active Python environment.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-287: Improper Authentication, where when an actor claims to have a given identity, the product does not prove or insufficiently proves that the claim is correct. In Django user sessions, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

### Impact The views provided by django-user-sessions allow users to terminate specific sessions. The session key is used to identify sessions, and thus included in the rendered HTML. In itself this is not a problem. However if the website has an XSS vulnerability, the session key could be extracted by the attacker and a session takeover could happen. ### Patches Patch is under way. ### Workarounds Remove the session_key from the template. ### References _None._ ### For more information If you have any questions or comments about this advisory: * Open an issue in [Bouke/django-user-sessions](https://github.com/Bouke/django-user-sessions/issues) * Email us at [bouke@haarsma.eu](mailto:bouke@haarsma.eu)

CVE-2020-5224 Affected Django user sessions Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
1.7.1
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
django-user-sessions
pypi/django-user-sessions
PyPI
< 1.7.1
1.7.1

References

GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/Bouke/django-user-sessions/security/advisories/GHSA-5fq8-3q2f-4m5g
NVD — CVE-2020-5224 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-5224
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/jazzband/django-user-sessions/commit/f0c4077e7d1436ba6d721af85cee89222ca5d2d9
Django user sessions Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/Bouke/django-user-sessions
Django user sessions Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/django-user-sessions/PYSEC-2020-230.yaml

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2020-5224?
CVE-2020-5224 is a security vulnerability in Django user sessions involving Session key exposure through session list in Django User Sessions under CWE-287: Improper Authentication.
Which Django user sessions versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 1.7.1 across affected packages: django-user-sessions.
What version fixes CVE-2020-5224?
Upgrading to 1.7.1 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is django-user-sessions affected?
Yes, django-user-sessions is affected in releases prior to 1.7.1. Upgrade your dependency to 1.7.1 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2020-5224?
CVE-2020-5224 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.5 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2020-5224?
CVE-2020-5224 is classified under CWE-287: Improper Authentication (When an actor claims to have a given identity, the product does not prove or insufficiently proves that the claim is correct.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2020-5224?
Run the dependency tree command: 'pip show django-user-sessions'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-5fq8-3q2f-4m5g",
  "modified" : "2024-09-16T21:59:21Z",
  "published" : "2020-01-24T19:56:59Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2020-5224" ],
  "summary" : "Session key exposure through session list in Django User Sessions",
  "details" : "### Impact\nThe views provided by django-user-sessions allow users to terminate specific sessions. The session key is used to identify sessions, and thus included in the rendered HTML. In itself this is not a problem. However if the website has an XSS vulnerability, the session key could be extracted by the attacker and a session takeover could happen.\n\n### Patches\nPatch is under way.\n\n### Workarounds\nRemove the session_key from the template.\n\n### References\n_None._\n\n### For more information\nIf you have any questions or comments about this advisory:\n* Open an issue in [Bouke/django-user-sessions](https://github.com/Bouke/django-user-sessions/issues)\n* Email us at [bouke@haarsma.eu](mailto:bouke@haarsma.eu)",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:N"
  }, {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:L/SA:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "django-user-sessions"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "1.7.1"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/Bouke/django-user-sessions/security/advisories/GHSA-5fq8-3q2f-4m5g"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-5224"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/jazzband/django-user-sessions/commit/f0c4077e7d1436ba6d721af85cee89222ca5d2d9"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/Bouke/django-user-sessions"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/django-user-sessions/PYSEC-2020-230.yaml"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-287" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2020-01-24T19:56:37Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}