GHSA-8vg2-wf3q-mwv7

Source
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-8vg2-wf3q-mwv7
Import Source
https://github.com/github/advisory-database/blob/main/advisories/github-reviewed/2023/03/GHSA-8vg2-wf3q-mwv7/GHSA-8vg2-wf3q-mwv7.json
Aliases
Published
2023-03-23T19:47:12Z
Modified
2023-11-08T04:12:11.139205Z
Details

Summary

CWE-532: Insertion of Sensitive Information into Log File discovered in v9.23.1. The directus_refresh_token is not redacted properly from the log outputs and can be used to impersonate users without their permission.

Details

Using v9.23.1, I am seeing that the directus_refresh_token is not properly redacted as indicated by https://github.com/directus/directus/blob/7c479c5161639aac466c763b6b958a9524201d74/api/src/logger.ts#L13

I'm classifying this as a security vulnerability because if someone has access to the log outputs, for example with a shared Cloud account or Splunk implementation, they could exchange the refresh token using /auth/refresh for an access token and use the token to perform actions on behalf of an unsuspecting user. This situation creates issues with accountability and non-repudiation because we can no longer have confidence that actions taken in the application were authorized or even performed by the logged-in user.

A couple of examples of this are: - A disgruntled employee deletes all of the data to get even with a target team member before logging off on their last day - Under the guise of their unsuspecting boss, a mischievous engineer uploads questionable images that get displayed on internal or external facing content sites

The list could go on but I think these communicate the risk of an internal threat that has access to this information 😆

PoC

  1. Set LOG_STYLE="raw" and run Directus v9.23.1
  2. Log in to the application
  3. Look at the shell output and see that directus_refresh_token is logged

    Note: This is different from the standard raw output format. I intentionally ran this with npx directus start | pino-pretty so logs would be easier to read. It can also be reproduced by running npx directus start alone.

    image

  4. Exchange the directus_refresh_token for an access_token

     curl -X POST \
       'http://0.0.0.0:8055/auth/refresh' \
       --header 'Accept: */*' \
       --header 'Cookie: directus_refresh_token=$shh'
    

Impact

Because this can be used to exploit other threats related to CWE-284: Improper Access Control I rank it with a Moderate severity. An insider with knowledge of this could do many mischievous things and get away with them for a long time without victims knowing about it.

References

Affected packages

npm / directus

Package

Name
directus

Affected ranges

Type
SEMVER
Events
Introduced
0The exact introduced commit is unknown
Fixed
9.23.3