CVE-2015-20110: Generator jhipster Generator-jhipster Allows A Timing Attack Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-4gpm-r23h-gprw
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CVSS 7.5
CWE-307 CWE-208
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2015-20110 is a HIGH (CVSS 7.5) generator-jhipster allows a timing attack vulnerability (CWE-307: Improper Restriction of Excessive Authentication Attempts) affecting Generator jhipster libraries in the npm ecosystem. The issue involves generator-jhipster allows a timing attack against validatetoken due to a string comparison that stops at the first character. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 2.23.0.

CVE-2015-20110 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2015-20110
GHSA Identifier GHSA-4gpm-r23h-gprw
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 7.5
CWE Classification CWE-307: Improper Restriction of Excessive Authentication Attempts
Affected Product Generator jhipster
Package Ecosystem npm
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:H/I:N/A:N).

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 High (C:H)
Integrity None (I:N)
Availability None (A:N)

How to Fix CVE-2015-20110

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

generator-jhipster fixed: 2.23.0 
npm install generator-jhipster@2.23.0
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

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

npm ls generator-jhipster

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Node.js application is affected by CVE-2015-20110, inspect your project dependencies using npm:

npm ls generator-jhipster

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Generator jhipster in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 2.23.0), your application is affected.

Note: The npm ls generator-jhipster command inspects dependencies declared in your package.json and lockfile; it does not perform automated runtime dynamic scanning.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-307: Improper Restriction of Excessive Authentication Attempts, where the product does not implement sufficient measures to prevent multiple failed authentication attempts within a short time frame. In Generator jhipster, 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

JHipster generator-jhipster before 2.23.0 allows a timing attack against validateToken due to a string comparison that stops at the first character that is different. Attackers can guess tokens by brute forcing one character at a time and observing the timing. This of course drastically reduces the search space to a linear amount of guesses based on the token length times the possible characters.

CVE-2015-20110 Affected Generator jhipster Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
2.23.0
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
generator-jhipster
npm/generator-jhipster
npm
< 2.23.0
2.23.0

References

NVD — CVE-2015-20110 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-20110
Generator jhipster Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/jhipster/generator-jhipster/issues/2095
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/jhipster/generator-jhipster/commit/79fe5626cb1bb80f9ac86cf46980748e65d2bdbc
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/jhipster/generator-jhipster/commit/7c49ab3d45dc4921b831a2ca55fb1e2a2db1ee25
Generator jhipster Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/jhipster/generator-jhipster
Generator jhipster Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/jhipster/generator-jhipster/compare/v2.22.0...v2.23.0

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2015-20110?
CVE-2015-20110 is a security vulnerability in Generator jhipster involving generator-jhipster allows a timing attack against validateToken due to a string comparison that stops at the first character under CWE-307: Improper Restriction of Excessive Authentication Attempts.
Which Generator jhipster versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 2.23.0 across affected packages: generator-jhipster.
What version fixes CVE-2015-20110?
Upgrading to 2.23.0 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is generator-jhipster affected?
Yes, generator-jhipster is affected in releases prior to 2.23.0. Upgrade your dependency to 2.23.0 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2015-20110?
CVE-2015-20110 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:H/I:N/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2015-20110?
CVE-2015-20110 is classified under CWE-307: Improper Restriction of Excessive Authentication Attempts (The product does not implement sufficient measures to prevent multiple failed authentication attempts within a short time frame.).
How can I check npm dependencies for CVE-2015-20110?
Run the dependency tree command: 'npm ls generator-jhipster'. 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-4gpm-r23h-gprw",
  "modified" : "2023-11-08T18:41:14Z",
  "published" : "2023-10-31T03:31:22Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2015-20110" ],
  "summary" : "generator-jhipster allows a timing attack against validateToken due to a string comparison that stops at the first character",
  "details" : "JHipster generator-jhipster before 2.23.0 allows a timing attack against validateToken due to a string comparison that stops at the first character that is different. Attackers can guess tokens by brute forcing one character at a time and observing the timing. This of course drastically reduces the search space to a linear amount of guesses based on the token length times the possible characters.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "npm",
      "name" : "generator-jhipster"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2.23.0"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-20110"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/jhipster/generator-jhipster/issues/2095"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/jhipster/generator-jhipster/commit/79fe5626cb1bb80f9ac86cf46980748e65d2bdbc"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/jhipster/generator-jhipster/commit/7c49ab3d45dc4921b831a2ca55fb1e2a2db1ee25"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/jhipster/generator-jhipster"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/jhipster/generator-jhipster/compare/v2.22.0...v2.23.0"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-208", "CWE-307" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2023-10-31T19:30:57Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2023-10-31T03:15:07Z"
  }
}