CVE-2022-21696: Onionshare cli Username Spoofing Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-68vr-8f46-vc9f
Share
CVSS 4.3
CWE-20
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2022-21696 is a MODERATE (CVSS 4.3) username spoofing vulnerability (CWE-20: Improper Input Validation) affecting Onionshare cli libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves username spoofing in onionshare. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 2.5.

CVE-2022-21696 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2022-21696
GHSA Identifier GHSA-68vr-8f46-vc9f
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 4.3
CWE Classification CWE-20: Improper Input Validation
Affected Product Onionshare cli
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 4.3

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:L/I:N/A:N).

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 Low (C:L)
Integrity None (I:N)
Availability None (A:N)

How to Fix CVE-2022-21696

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

onionshare-cli fixed: 2.5 
pip install onionshare-cli>=2.5
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 onionshare-cli

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Python environment is affected by CVE-2022-21696, inspect your installed packages using pip:

pip show onionshare-cli

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Onionshare cli in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 2.5), your application is affected.

Note: The pip show onionshare-cli command checks currently installed packages in your active Python environment.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-20: Improper Input Validation, where the product receives input or data, but it does not validate or incorrectly validates that the input has the properties that are required to process the data safely and correctly. In Onionshare cli, 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

Between September 26, 2021 and October 8, 2021, [Radically Open Security](https://www.radicallyopensecurity.com/) conducted a penetration test of OnionShare 2.4, funded by the Open Technology Fund's [Red Team lab](https://www.opentech.fund/labs/red-team-lab/). This is an issue from that penetration test. - Vulnerability ID: OTF-005 - Vulnerability type: Improper Input Sanitization - Threat level: Low ## Description: It is possible to change the username to that of another chat participant with an additional space character at the end of the name string. ## Technical description: Assumed users in Chat: - Alice - Bob - Mallory 1. Mallory renames to `Alice `. 2. Mallory sends message as `Alice `. 3. Alice and Bob receive a message from Mallory disguised as `Alice `, which is hard to distinguish from the `Alice` in the web interface. ![otf-005-a](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/156128/140666112-8febd4d8-6761-41aa-955c-48be76f3c657.png) ![otf-005-b](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/156128/140666113-1713ddf7-cef6-4dac-b718-9af1dc4ffdcd.png) Other (invisible) whitespace characters were found to be working as well. ## Impact: An adversary with access to the chat environment can use the rename feature to impersonate other participants by adding whitespace characters at the end of the username. ## Recommendation: - Remove non-visible characters from the username

CVE-2022-21696 Affected Onionshare cli Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
2.5
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
onionshare-cli
pypi/onionshare-cli
PyPI
≥ 2.3
< 2.5
2.5

References

GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/onionshare/onionshare/security/advisories/GHSA-68vr-8f46-vc9f
NVD — CVE-2022-21696 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-21696
Onionshare cli Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/onionshare/onionshare
Onionshare cli Release RELEASE
https://github.com/onionshare/onionshare/releases/tag/v2.5
Onionshare cli Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/onionshare-cli/PYSEC-2022-47.yaml

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2022-21696?
CVE-2022-21696 is a security vulnerability in Onionshare cli involving Username spoofing in OnionShare under CWE-20: Improper Input Validation.
Which Onionshare cli versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 2.5 across affected packages: onionshare-cli.
What version fixes CVE-2022-21696?
Upgrading to 2.5 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is onionshare-cli affected?
Yes, onionshare-cli is affected in releases prior to 2.5. Upgrade your dependency to 2.5 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2022-21696?
CVE-2022-21696 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 4.3 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2022-21696?
CVE-2022-21696 is classified under CWE-20: Improper Input Validation (The product receives input or data, but it does not validate or incorrectly validates that the input has the properties that are required to process the data safely and correctly.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2022-21696?
Run the dependency tree command: 'pip show onionshare-cli'. 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-68vr-8f46-vc9f",
  "modified" : "2024-10-08T12:39:16Z",
  "published" : "2022-01-21T23:20:14Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2022-21696" ],
  "summary" : "Username spoofing in OnionShare",
  "details" : "Between September 26, 2021 and October 8, 2021, [Radically Open Security](https://www.radicallyopensecurity.com/) conducted a penetration test of OnionShare 2.4, funded by the Open Technology Fund's [Red Team lab](https://www.opentech.fund/labs/red-team-lab/). This is an issue from that penetration test.\n\n- Vulnerability ID: OTF-005\n- Vulnerability type: Improper Input Sanitization\n- Threat level: Low\n\n## Description:\n\nIt is possible to change the username to that of another chat participant with an additional space character at the end of the name string.\n\n## Technical description:\n\nAssumed users in Chat:\n\n- Alice\n- Bob\n- Mallory\n\n1. Mallory renames to `Alice `.\n2. Mallory sends message as `Alice `.\n3. Alice and Bob receive a message from Mallory disguised as `Alice `, which is hard to distinguish from the `Alice`\nin the web interface.\n\n![otf-005-a](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/156128/140666112-8febd4d8-6761-41aa-955c-48be76f3c657.png)\n![otf-005-b](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/156128/140666113-1713ddf7-cef6-4dac-b718-9af1dc4ffdcd.png)\n\nOther (invisible) whitespace characters were found to be working as well.\n\n## Impact:\n\nAn adversary with access to the chat environment can use the rename feature to impersonate other participants by adding whitespace characters at the end of the username.\n\n## Recommendation:\n\n- Remove non-visible characters from the username",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N"
  }, {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "onionshare-cli"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "2.3"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2.5"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/onionshare/onionshare/security/advisories/GHSA-68vr-8f46-vc9f"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-21696"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/onionshare/onionshare"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/onionshare/onionshare/releases/tag/v2.5"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/onionshare-cli/PYSEC-2022-47.yaml"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-20" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2022-01-19T19:41:55Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2022-01-18T20:15:00Z"
  }
}