CVE-2018-20301: Coherence Permissive Parameters And Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-mrq8-53r4-3j5m
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CVSS 6.5
CWE-20
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2018-20301 is a MODERATE (CVSS 6.5) permissive parameters and privilege escalation vulnerability (CWE-20: Improper Input Validation) affecting Coherence libraries in the Hex ecosystem. The issue involves permissive parameters and privilege escalation. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 0.5.2.

CVE-2018-20301 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2018-20301
GHSA Identifier GHSA-mrq8-53r4-3j5m
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 6.5
CWE Classification CWE-20: Improper Input Validation
Affected Product Coherence
Package Ecosystem Hex
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:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/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 None (C:N)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability None (A:N)

How to Fix CVE-2018-20301

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

coherence fixed: 0.5.2 
Upgrade coherence to 0.5.2
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

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

inspect dependencies for coherence

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2018-20301, inspect your project dependencies for Coherence:

inspect dependencies for coherence

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Coherence in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 0.5.2), your application is affected.

Note: Verify declared build manifests and deployed runtime container environments.

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 Coherence, 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

An issue was discovered in Steve Pallen Coherence before 0.5.2 that is similar to a Mass Assignment vulnerability. In particular, "registration" endpoints (e.g., creating, editing, updating) allow users to update any coherence_fields data. For example, users can automatically confirm their accounts by sending the confirmed_at parameter with their registration request.

CVE-2018-20301 Affected Coherence Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
0.5.2
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
coherence
 Hex
< 0.5.2
0.5.2

References

NVD — CVE-2018-20301 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-20301
Coherence Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/smpallen99/coherence/issues/270
Coherence Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/smpallen99/coherence

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2018-20301?
CVE-2018-20301 is a security vulnerability in Coherence involving Permissive parameters and privilege escalation under CWE-20: Improper Input Validation.
Which Coherence versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 0.5.2 across affected packages: coherence.
What version fixes CVE-2018-20301?
Upgrading to 0.5.2 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is coherence affected?
Yes, coherence is affected in releases prior to 0.5.2. Upgrade your dependency to 0.5.2 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2018-20301?
CVE-2018-20301 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.5 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2018-20301?
CVE-2018-20301 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 Hex dependencies for CVE-2018-20301?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for coherence'. 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-mrq8-53r4-3j5m",
  "modified" : "2022-01-27T20:15:58Z",
  "published" : "2022-02-10T22:35:39Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2018-20301" ],
  "summary" : "Permissive parameters and privilege escalation",
  "details" : "An issue was discovered in Steve Pallen Coherence before 0.5.2 that is similar to a Mass Assignment vulnerability. In particular, \"registration\" endpoints (e.g., creating, editing, updating) allow users to update any coherence_fields data. For example, users can automatically confirm their accounts by sending the confirmed_at parameter with their registration request.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Hex",
      "name" : "coherence"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.5.2"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-20301"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/smpallen99/coherence/issues/270"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/smpallen99/coherence"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-20" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2022-01-27T20:15:58Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}