CVE-2023-4918: Keycloak core Keycloak Vulnerable To Plaintext Storage Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-5q66-v53q-pm35
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CVSS 8.8
CWE-319 CWE-256
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2023-4918 is a HIGH (CVSS 8.8) keycloak vulnerable to plaintext storage vulnerability (CWE-319: Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information) affecting Keycloak core libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The issue involves keycloak vulnerable to plaintext storage of user password. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 22.0.3.

CVE-2023-4918 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2023-4918
GHSA Identifier GHSA-5q66-v53q-pm35
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 8.8
CWE Classification CWE-319: Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information
Affected Product Keycloak core
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 8.8

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

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

How to Fix CVE-2023-4918

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

org.keycloak:keycloak-core fixed: 22.0.3 
<dependency>
    <groupId>org.keycloak</groupId>
    <artifactId>keycloak-core</artifactId>
    <version>22.0.3</version>
</dependency>
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

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

mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.keycloak

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2023-4918, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.keycloak

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Keycloak core in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 22.0.3), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.keycloak command inspects the resolved dependency graph declared in your project's POM files; it does not perform automated security scanning or inspect runtime dynamic classpaths. Always verify runtime container classpaths and shaded JARs.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-319: Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information, where the product transmits sensitive or security-critical data in cleartext in a communication channel that can be sniffed by unauthorized actors. In Keycloak core, 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

A flaw was discovered in Keycloak Core package. When a user registers itself through registration flow, the "password" and "password-confirm" field from the form will occur as regular attributes in the users attributes. The password is also created, but the user attributes must not be there. This way, any entities (all users and clients with proper rights/roles) are able to retrieve the users passwords in clear-text. ### Impact Passwords for self-registered users are stored as cleartext attributes associated with the user. ### Mitigation Disable self-registration for users in all realms until patched.

CVE-2023-4918 Affected Keycloak core Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
22.0.3
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
org.keycloak:keycloak-core
maven/org.keycloak/keycloak-core
Maven
≥ 22.0.2
< 22.0.3
All 1 versions
22.0.2
22.0.3

References

GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/keycloak/keycloak/security/advisories/GHSA-5q66-v53q-pm35
NVD — CVE-2023-4918 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-4918
Keycloak core Security Information SECURITY
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-4918
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi WEB
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2238588
Keycloak core Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/keycloak/keycloak

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2023-4918?
CVE-2023-4918 is a security vulnerability in Keycloak core involving Keycloak vulnerable to Plaintext Storage of User Password under CWE-319: Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information.
Which Keycloak core versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 22.0.3 across affected packages: org.keycloak:keycloak-core.
What version fixes CVE-2023-4918?
Upgrading to 22.0.3 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is keycloak-core affected?
Yes, org.keycloak:keycloak-core is affected in releases prior to 22.0.3. Upgrade your dependency to 22.0.3 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2023-4918?
CVE-2023-4918 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2023-4918?
CVE-2023-4918 is classified under CWE-319: Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information (The product transmits sensitive or security-critical data in cleartext in a communication channel that can be sniffed by unauthorized actors.).
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2023-4918?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=org.keycloak'. 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-5q66-v53q-pm35",
  "modified" : "2023-09-12T21:10:37Z",
  "published" : "2023-09-12T21:10:37Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2023-4918" ],
  "summary" : "Keycloak vulnerable to Plaintext Storage of User Password",
  "details" : "A flaw was discovered in Keycloak Core package.  When a user registers itself through registration flow, the \"password\" and \"password-confirm\" field from the form will occur as regular attributes in the users attributes. The password is also created, but the user attributes must not be there. This way, any entities (all users and clients with proper rights/roles) are able to retrieve the users passwords in clear-text. \n\n### Impact\nPasswords for self-registered users are stored as cleartext attributes associated with the user. \n\n### Mitigation\nDisable self-registration for users in all realms until patched.\n\n",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Maven",
      "name" : "org.keycloak:keycloak-core"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "22.0.2"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "22.0.3"
      } ]
    } ],
    "versions" : [ "22.0.2" ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/keycloak/keycloak/security/advisories/GHSA-5q66-v53q-pm35"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-4918"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-4918"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2238588"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/keycloak/keycloak"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-256", "CWE-319" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2023-09-12T21:10:37Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2023-09-12T20:15:10Z"
  }
}