CVE-2023-38691 - CVE House
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Status published Medium CVE-2023-38691

matrix-appservice-bridge doesn't verify the sub parameter of an openId token exhange, allowing unauthorized access to provisioning APIs

Vulnerability Description

matrix-appservice-bridge provides an API for setting up bridges. Starting in version 4.0.0 and prior to versions 8.1.2 and 9.0.1, a malicious Matrix server can use a foreign user's MXID in an OpenID exchange, allowing a bad actor to impersonate users when using the provisioning API. The library does not check that the servername part of the `sub` parameter (containing the user's *claimed* MXID) is the the same as the servername we are talking to. A malicious actor could spin up a server on any given domain, respond with a `sub` parameter according to the user they want to act as and use the resulting token to perform provisioning requests. Versions 8.1.2 and 9.0.1 contain a patch. As a workaround, disable the provisioning API.

Impact Analysis

Refer to official advisory for detailed impact metrics.

Remediation

Ensure systems are updated to the latest vendor-supplied patch levels.

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Credits & Attribution

No credits recorded in the NVD database.

Affected Vendor

Affected Software

matrix-appservice-bridge
Vulnerable Versions:
>= 4.0.0, < 8.1.2, = 9.0.0

Timeline

Official Publish: August 4th, 2023
Last Modified: October 7th, 2024
Added to House: July 22nd, 2026

CVSS Vectors

V3: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:N/A:N

Weaknesses (CWE)