Every CVE Search/ Get API key

CVE-2023-40021

Timing Attack Reveals CSRF Tokens in oppia

5.3 Medium

Oppia is an online learning platform. When comparing a received CSRF token against the expected token, Oppia uses the string equality operator (==), which is not safe against timing attacks. By repeatedly submitting invalid tokens, an attacker can brute-force the expected CSRF token character by character. Once they have recovered the token, they can then submit a forged request on behalf of a logged-in user and execute privileged actions on that user's behalf. In particular the function to validate received CSRF tokens is at oppia.core.controllers.base.CsrfTokenManager.is_csrf_token_valid. An attacker who can lure a logged-in Oppia user to a malicious website can perform any change on Oppia that the user is authorized to do, including changing profile information; creating, deleting, and changing explorations; etc. Note that the attacker cannot change a user's login credentials. An attack would need to complete within 1 second because every second, the time used in computing the token changes. This issue has been addressed in commit b89bf80837 which has been included in release 3.3.2-hotfix-2. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector
Network
Complexity
High
Privileges needed
None
User interaction
Required

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

Exploit likelihood

0.77%Up 0.7 points since Aug 18, 2023
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

CVE List Score used 5.3

Timing Attack Reveals CSRF Tokens in oppia

Oppia is an online learning platform. When comparing a received CSRF token against the expected token, Oppia uses the string equality operator (==), which is not safe against timing attacks. By repeatedly submitting invalid tokens, an attacker can brute-force the expected CSRF token character by character. Once they have recovered the token, they can then submit a forged request on behalf of a logged-in user and execute privileged actions on that user's behalf. In particular the function to validate received CSRF tokens is at oppia.core.controllers.base.CsrfTokenManager.is_csrf_token_valid. An attacker who can lure a logged-in Oppia user to a malicious website can perform any change on Oppia that the user is authorized to do, including changing profile information; creating, deleting, and changing explorations; etc. Note that the attacker cannot change a user's login credentials. An attack would need to complete within 1 second because every second, the time used in computing the token changes. This issue has been addressed in commit b89bf80837 which has been included in release 3.3.2-hotfix-2. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.

Record
CVE-2023-40021
CVSS 3.1
5.3 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
Weakness
CWE-203, CWE-208
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2023-44640 5.3

Oppia is an online learning platform. When comparing a received CSRF token against the expected token, Oppia uses the string equality operator (==), which is not safe against timing attacks. By repeatedly submitting invalid tokens, an attacker can brute-force the expected CSRF token character by character. Once they have recovered the token, they can then submit a forged request on behalf of a logged-in user and execute privileged actions on that user's behalf. In particular the function to validate received CSRF tokens is at oppia.core.controllers.base.CsrfTokenManager.is_csrf_token_valid. An attacker who can lure a logged-in Oppia user to a malicious website can perform any change on Oppia that the user is authorized to do, including changing profile information; creating, deleting, and changing explorations; etc. Note that the attacker cannot change a user's login credentials. An attack would need to complete within 1 second because every second, the time used in computing the token changes. This issue has been addressed in commit b89bf80837 which has been included in release 3.3.2-hotfix-2. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.

Record
EUVD-2023-44640
CVSS 3.1
5.3 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
Updated
2026-11-03
NVD 5.3

Oppia is an online learning platform. When comparing a received CSRF token against the expected token, Oppia uses the string equality operator (==), which is not safe against timing attacks. By repeatedly submitting invalid tokens, an attacker can brute-force the expected CSRF token character by character. Once they have recovered the token, they can then submit a forged request on behalf of a logged-in user and execute privileged actions on that user's behalf. In particular the function to validate received CSRF tokens is at oppia.core.controllers.base.CsrfTokenManager.is_csrf_token_valid. An attacker who can lure a logged-in Oppia user to a malicious website can perform any change on Oppia that the user is authorized to do, including changing profile information; creating, deleting, and changing explorations; etc. Note that the attacker cannot change a user's login credentials. An attack would need to complete within 1 second because every second, the time used in computing the token changes. This issue has been addressed in commit b89bf80837 which has been included in release 3.3.2-hotfix-2. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.

Record
CVE-2023-40021
CVSS 3.1
5.3 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
Weakness
CWE-203, CWE-208
Updated
2026-11-02
OSV 5.3

Timing Attack Reveals CSRF Tokens in oppia

Oppia is an online learning platform. When comparing a received CSRF token against the expected token, Oppia uses the string equality operator (==), which is not safe against timing attacks. By repeatedly submitting invalid tokens, an attacker can brute-force the expected CSRF token character by character. Once they have recovered the token, they can then submit a forged request on behalf of a logged-in user and execute privileged actions on that user's behalf. In particular the function to validate received CSRF tokens is at oppia.core.controllers.base.CsrfTokenManager.is_csrf_token_valid. An attacker who can lure a logged-in Oppia user to a malicious website can perform any change on Oppia that the user is authorized to do, including changing profile information; creating, deleting, and changing explorations; etc. Note that the attacker cannot change a user's login credentials. An attack would need to complete within 1 second because every second, the time used in computing the token changes. This issue has been addressed in commit b89bf80837 which has been included in release 3.3.2-hotfix-2. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.

Record
CVE-2023-40021
CVSS 3.1
5.3 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
Weakness
CWE-203, CWE-208
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

History

History
RecordedChangedSources
aliases, publishedEUVD
first indexedCVE List, NVD, OSV

Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.

In short

CVE-2023-40021 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 5.3) in Oppia, published August 16, 2023. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.77%, the 55th percentile. No source names a fixed version.

References

MoveEnter Open