CVE-2020-7245
Incorrect username validation in the registration processes of CTFd through 2.2.2 allows a remote...
Incorrect username validation in the registration process of CTFd v2.0.0 - v2.2.2 allows an attacker to take over an arbitrary account if the username is known and emails are enabled on the CTFd instance. To exploit the vulnerability, one must register with a username identical to the victim's username, but with white space inserted before and/or after the username. This will register the account with the same username as the victim. After initiating a password reset for the new account, CTFd will reset the victim's account password due to the username collision.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
NVD Score used
9.8
Incorrect username validation in the registration process of CTFd v2.0.0 - v2.2.2 allows an attacker to take over an arbitrary account if the username is known and emails are enabled on the CTFd instance. To exploit the vulnerability, one must register with a username identical to the victim's username, but with white space inserted before and/or after the username. This will register the account with the same username as the victim. After initiating a password reset for the new account, CTFd will reset the victim's account password due to the username collision.
- Record
CVE-2020-7245- CVSS 3.1
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 6.8 Medium
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P - Weakness
- CWE-640
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
CVE List No score
Incorrect username validation in the registration process of CTFd v2.0.0 - v2.2.2 allows an attacker to take over an arbitrary account if the username is known and emails are enabled on the CTFd instance. To exploit the vulnerability, one must register with a username identical to the victim's username, but with white space inserted before and/or after the username. This will register the account with the same username as the victim. After initiating a password reset for the new account, CTFd will reset the victim's account password due to the username collision.
- Record
CVE-2020-7245- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2020-28372 No score
Incorrect username validation in the registration process of CTFd v2.0.0 - v2.2.2 allows an attacker to take over an arbitrary account if the username is known and emails are enabled on the CTFd instance. To exploit the vulnerability, one must register with a username identical to the victim's username, but with white space inserted before and/or after the username. This will register the account with the same username as the victim. After initiating a password reset for the new account, CTFd will reset the victim's account password due to the username collision.
- Record
EUVD-2020-28372- Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-qrhm-93gw-vg83 No score
Incorrect username validation in the registration processes of CTFd through 2.2.2 allows a remote...
Incorrect username validation in the registration processes of CTFd through 2.2.2 allows a remote attacker to take over an arbitrary account after initiating a password reset. This is related to register() and reset_password() in auth.py. To exploit the vulnerability, one must register with a username similar to the admin, but with spaces inserted before and after the username. This will register the account with the same username as the admin. After a reset of the password for this new account, CTFd will reset the admin account's password due to the username collision.
- Record
GHSA-qrhm-93gw-vg83- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
9.8
Incorrect username validation in the registration process of CTFd v2.0.0 - v2.2.2 allows an attacker to take over an arbitrary account if the username is known and emails are enabled on the CTFd instance. To exploit the vulnerability, one must register with a username identical to the victim's username, but with white space inserted before and/or after the username. This will register the account with the same username as the victim. After initiating a password reset for the new account, CTFd will reset the victim's account password due to the username collision.
- Record
CVE-2020-7245- CVSS 3.1
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2020-7245 is a critical vulnerability (CVSS 9.8) in Ctfd, published January 23, 2020. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 1.17%, the 67th percentile. No source names a fixed version.