CVE-2023-25171: Kiwitcms Denial of Service Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-7j9h-3jxf-3vrf
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-770
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2023-25171 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) denial of service vulnerability (CWE-770: Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling) affecting Kiwitcms libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves denial of service vulnerability on password reset page. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 12.0.

CVE-2023-25171 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2023-25171
GHSA Identifier GHSA-7j9h-3jxf-3vrf
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-770: Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling
Affected Product Kiwitcms
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 7.5

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:N/I:N/A:H).

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

How to Fix CVE-2023-25171

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

kiwitcms fixed: 12.0 
pip install kiwitcms>=12.0
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 kiwitcms

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Python environment is affected by CVE-2023-25171, inspect your installed packages using pip:

pip show kiwitcms

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Kiwitcms in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 12.0), your application is affected.

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

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-770: Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling, where the product allocates a reusable resource or group of resources on behalf of an actor without imposing any intended restrictions on the size or number of resources that can be allocated. In Kiwitcms, 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 Previous versions of Kiwi TCMS do not impose rate limits which makes it easier to attempt denial-of-service attacks against the Password reset page. An attacker could potentially send a large number of emails if they know the email addresses of users in Kiwi TCMS. Additionally that may strain SMTP resources. ### Patches Users should upgrade to v12.0 or later. ### Workarounds Users may install and configure a rate-limiting proxy in front of Kiwi TCMS such as Nginx and/or configure rate limits on their email server when possible. ### References [Disclosed by Ahmed Rabeaa Mosaa](https://huntr.dev/bounties/3b712cb6-3fa3-4f71-8562-7a7016c6262e)

CVE-2023-25171 Affected Kiwitcms Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
12.0
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
kiwitcms
pypi/kiwitcms
PyPI
< 12.0
12.0

References

GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/kiwitcms/Kiwi/security/advisories/GHSA-7j9h-3jxf-3vrf
NVD — CVE-2023-25171 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-25171
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/kiwitcms/Kiwi/commit/761305d04f5910ba14cc04d1255a8f1afdbb87f3
Kiwitcms Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/kiwitcms/Kiwi
huntr.dev/bounties/3b712cb6-3... WEB
https://huntr.dev/bounties/3b712cb6-3fa3-4f71-8562-7a7016c6262e
Kiwitcms Security Information SECURITY
https://kiwitcms.org/blog/kiwi-tcms-team/2023/02/15/kiwi-tcms-120

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2023-25171?
CVE-2023-25171 is a security vulnerability in Kiwitcms involving Denial of service vulnerability on Password reset page under CWE-770: Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling.
Which Kiwitcms versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 12.0 across affected packages: kiwitcms.
What version fixes CVE-2023-25171?
Upgrading to 12.0 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is kiwitcms affected?
Yes, kiwitcms is affected in releases prior to 12.0. Upgrade your dependency to 12.0 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2023-25171?
CVE-2023-25171 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2023-25171?
CVE-2023-25171 is classified under CWE-770: Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling (The product allocates a reusable resource or group of resources on behalf of an actor without imposing any intended restrictions on the size or number of resources that can be allocated.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2023-25171?
Run the dependency tree command: 'pip show kiwitcms'. 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-7j9h-3jxf-3vrf",
  "modified" : "2023-02-15T18:11:42Z",
  "published" : "2023-02-15T18:10:38Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2023-25171" ],
  "summary" : "Denial of service vulnerability on Password reset page",
  "details" : "### Impact\nPrevious versions of Kiwi TCMS do not impose rate limits which makes it easier to attempt denial-of-service attacks against the Password reset page. An attacker could potentially send a large number of emails if they know the email addresses of users in Kiwi TCMS. Additionally that may strain SMTP resources. \n\n### Patches\nUsers should upgrade to v12.0 or later.\n\n### Workarounds\nUsers may install and configure a rate-limiting proxy in front of Kiwi TCMS such as Nginx and/or configure rate limits on their email server when possible.\n\n### References\n[Disclosed by Ahmed Rabeaa Mosaa](https://huntr.dev/bounties/3b712cb6-3fa3-4f71-8562-7a7016c6262e)\n",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "kiwitcms"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "12.0"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/kiwitcms/Kiwi/security/advisories/GHSA-7j9h-3jxf-3vrf"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-25171"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/kiwitcms/Kiwi/commit/761305d04f5910ba14cc04d1255a8f1afdbb87f3"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/kiwitcms/Kiwi"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://huntr.dev/bounties/3b712cb6-3fa3-4f71-8562-7a7016c6262e"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://kiwitcms.org/blog/kiwi-tcms-team/2023/02/15/kiwi-tcms-120"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-770" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2023-02-15T18:10:38Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2023-02-15T15:15:00Z"
  }
}