CVE-2020-17489

Description

From CVE.org

An issue was discovered in certain configurations of GNOME gnome-shell through 3.36.4. When logging out of an account, the password box from the login dialog reappears with the password still visible. If the user had decided to have the password shown in cleartext at login time, it is then visible for a brief moment upon a logout. (If the password were never shown in cleartext, only the password length is revealed.)

Statement

This flaw does not affect gnome-shell as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 or 7. For 6, there is no option to view the password in the clear at login, and for 7, the login screen is killed upon login.

Mitigation

Do not use the "view password" context menu option when logging into gnome-shell.

Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details

Info alert:Important note

CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).

CVSS v3 Score Breakdown

Red HatNVDcve.org
Base Score4.34.3N/A
Attack VectorPhysicalPhysicalN/A
Attack ComplexityLowLowN/A
Privileges RequiredNoneNoneN/A
User InteractionRequiredRequiredN/A
ScopeUnchangedUnchangedN/A
ConfidentialityHighHighN/A
Integrity ImpactNoneNoneN/A
Availability ImpactNoneNoneN/A

Vector

Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

NVD: CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Red Hat CVSS v3 Score Explanation

AV:P because this would require someone to have physical access to observe or record a password. One example of an attack would be that a user leaves to take a break from the machine and forgets to log out, an attacker sits down in their spot and logs them out while recording the screen with a camera, then plays back the footage to grab the password. As such, UI:R because a user would need to take some action for this attack to be possible. PR:N as an attacker wouldn't need privileges on the machine per se.

Understanding the Weakness (CWE)

Confidentiality

Technical Impact: Read Application Data

Frequently Asked Questions

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