October CMS auth bypass and account takeover
### Impact
An attacker can exploit this vulnerability to bypass authentication using a specially crafted persist cookie.
- To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must obtain a Laravel’s secret key for cookie encryption and signing.
- Due to the logic of how this mechanism works, a targeted user account must be logged in while
the attacker is exploiting the vulnerability.
- Authorization via persist cookie not shown in access logs.
### Patches
- Issue has been patched in Build 472 and v1.1.5
- Shortened patch instructions
https://github.com/daftspunk/CVE-2021-32648
### Workarounds
Apply
https://github.com/octobercms/library/commit/016a297b1bec55d2e53bc889458ed2cb5c3e9374 and
https://github.com/octobercms/library/commit/5bd1a28140b825baebe6becd4f7562299d3de3b9 to your installation manually if you are unable to upgrade.
[**Update 2022-01-20**] Shortened patch instructions
https://github.com/daftspunk/CVE-2021-32648 can be found here.
### Recommendations
We recommend the following steps to make sure your server stays secure:
- Keep server OS and system software up to date.
- Keep October CMS software up to date.
- Use a multi-factor authentication plugin.
- Change the default backend URL
https://github.com/octobercms/october/blob/1.1/config/cms.php#L39 or block public access to the backend area.
- Include the Roave/SecurityAdvisories
https://github.com/Roave/SecurityAdvisories Composer package to ensure that your application doesn't have installed dependencies with known security vulnerabilities.
### References
Bugs found as part of Solar Security CMS Research. Credits to:
• Andrey Basarygin
• Andrey Guzei
• Mikhail Khramenkov
• Alexander Sidukov
• Maxim Teplykh
### For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
* Email us at [hello@octobercms.com](mailto:hello@octobercms.com)