CVE-2020-26214: Alerta server Authentication Bypass Vulnerability
CRITICALCVE-2020-26214 is a CRITICAL (CVSS 9.1) authentication bypass vulnerability (CWE-287: Improper Authentication) affecting Alerta server libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves ldap authentication bypass with empty password. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 8.1.0, 7.5.7.
CVE-2020-26214 at a Glance
Security Impact
CVSS: 9.1
The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N).
How to Fix CVE-2020-26214
To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Alerta server dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.
pip install alerta-server>=8.1.0pip install alerta-server>=7.5.7Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release:
pip show alerta-serverHow to Check if You Are Affected
To determine whether your Python environment is affected by CVE-2020-26214, inspect your installed packages using pip:
pip show alerta-serverAnalyze the terminal output to locate any version of Alerta server in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 8.1.0), your application is affected.
Note: The pip show alerta-server 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 Alerta server, 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
CVE-2020-26214 Affected Alerta server Versions
2 component(s)| Product / Package | Ecosystem | Affected Versions | Fixed Version |
|---|---|---|---|
|
alerta-server
|
PyPI |
≥ 8.0.0
< 8.1.0
|
8.1.0
|
|
alerta-server
|
PyPI |
< 7.5.7
|
7.5.7
|
References
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2020-26214?
Which Alerta server versions are affected?
What version fixes CVE-2020-26214?
Is alerta-server affected?
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2020-26214?
What CWE is associated with CVE-2020-26214?
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2020-26214?
Machine-readable OSV JSON
OSV v1.5 Schema
{
"schema_version" : "1.4.0",
"id" : "GHSA-5hmm-x8q8-w5jh",
"modified" : "2024-09-04T19:53:05Z",
"published" : "2020-11-06T17:35:49Z",
"aliases" : [ "CVE-2020-26214" ],
"summary" : "LDAP authentication bypass with empty password",
"details" : "### Impact\nUsers may be able to bypass LDAP authentication if they provide an empty password when Alerta server is configure to use LDAP as the authorization provider.\n\nOnly deployments where LDAP servers are configured to allow unauthenticated binds (eg. default on Active Directory) are affected.\n\n### Patches\nA fix has been implemented that returns HTTP 401 Unauthorized response for any authentication attempts where the password field is empty. See https://github.com/alerta/alerta/pull/1345\n\n### Workarounds\nLDAP administrators can disallow unauthenticated bind requests by clients.\n\n### References\nhttps://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4513#section-5.1.2\nhttps://pypi.org/project/alerta-server/8.1.0/\n\n### For more information\nIf you have any questions or comments about this advisory:\n* Add a comment to the issue [#1277](https://github.com/alerta/alerta/issues/1277)\n* Email us at [admin@alerta.dev](mailto:admin@alerta.dev)",
"severity" : [ {
"type" : "CVSS_V3",
"score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N"
}, {
"type" : "CVSS_V4",
"score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N"
} ],
"affected" : [ {
"package" : {
"ecosystem" : "PyPI",
"name" : "alerta-server"
},
"ranges" : [ {
"type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
"events" : [ {
"introduced" : "8.0.0"
}, {
"fixed" : "8.1.0"
} ]
} ]
}, {
"package" : {
"ecosystem" : "PyPI",
"name" : "alerta-server"
},
"ranges" : [ {
"type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
"events" : [ {
"introduced" : "0"
}, {
"fixed" : "7.5.7"
} ]
} ]
} ],
"references" : [ {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/alerta/alerta/security/advisories/GHSA-5hmm-x8q8-w5jh"
}, {
"type" : "ADVISORY",
"url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-26214"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/alerta/alerta/issues/1277"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/alerta/alerta/pull/1345"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/alerta/alerta/commit/2bfa31779a4c9df2fa68fa4d0c5c909698c5ef65"
}, {
"type" : "PACKAGE",
"url" : "https://github.com/alerta/alerta"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/alerta-server/PYSEC-2020-159.yaml"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://pypi.org/project/alerta-server/8.1.0"
}, {
"type" : "WEB",
"url" : "https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4513#section-5.1.2"
} ],
"database_specific" : {
"cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-287" ],
"severity" : "CRITICAL",
"github_reviewed" : true,
"github_reviewed_at" : "2020-11-06T17:34:42Z",
"nvd_published_at" : null
}
}