Headline
GHSA-4f74-84v3-j9q5: matrix-synapse vulnerable to temporary storage of plaintext passwords during password changes
Impact
When users update their passwords, the new credentials may be briefly held in the server database. While this doesn’t grant the server any added capabilities—it already learns the users’ passwords as part of the authentication process—it does disrupt the expectation that passwords won’t be stored in the database. As a result, these passwords could inadvertently be captured in database backups for a longer duration.
These temporarily stored passwords are automatically erased after a 48-hour window.
Patches
https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/pull/16272
References
This bug was due to a regression in https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/pull/13188.
Skip to content
Actions
Automate any workflow
Packages
Host and manage packages
Security
Find and fix vulnerabilities
Codespaces
Instant dev environments
Copilot
Write better code with AI
Code review
Manage code changes
Issues
Plan and track work
Discussions
Collaborate outside of code
GitHub Sponsors
Fund open source developers
* The ReadME Project
GitHub community articles
- Pricing
- GitHub Advisory Database
- GitHub Reviewed
- CVE-2023-41335
matrix-synapse vulnerable to temporary storage of plaintext passwords during password changes
Low severity GitHub Reviewed Published Sep 26, 2023 in matrix-org/synapse • Updated Sep 26, 2023
Package
pip matrix-synapse (pip)
Affected versions
>= 1.66.0, < 1.93.0
Description
Impact
When users update their passwords, the new credentials may be briefly held in the server database. While this doesn’t grant the server any added capabilities—it already learns the users’ passwords as part of the authentication process—it does disrupt the expectation that passwords won’t be stored in the database. As a result, these passwords could inadvertently be captured in database backups for a longer duration.
These temporarily stored passwords are automatically erased after a 48-hour window.
Patches
matrix-org/synapse#16272
References
This bug was due to a regression in matrix-org/synapse#13188.
References
- GHSA-4f74-84v3-j9q5
- matrix-org/synapse#13188
- matrix-org/synapse#16272
- matrix-org/synapse@69b74d9
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database
Sep 26, 2023
Last updated
Sep 26, 2023
Related news
Gentoo Linux Security Advisory 202401-12 - Multiple vulnerabilities have been found in Synapse, the worst of which could result in information leaks. Versions greater than or equal to 1.96.0 are affected.
Synapse is an open-source Matrix homeserver written and maintained by the Matrix.org Foundation. When users update their passwords, the new credentials may be briefly held in the server database. While this doesn't grant the server any added capabilities—it already learns the users' passwords as part of the authentication process—it does disrupt the expectation that passwords won't be stored in the database. As a result, these passwords could inadvertently be captured in database backups for a longer duration. These temporarily stored passwords are automatically erased after a 48-hour window. This issue has been addressed in version 1.93.0. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this issue.