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OpencastApplication · Apereo

CVE-2020-5206

CRITICAL · 10.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-01-30
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 7.6 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click Patch available

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In Opencast before 7.6 and 8.1, using a remember-me cookie with an arbitrary username can cause Opencast to assume proper authentication for that user even if the remember-me cookie was incorrect given that the attacked endpoint also allows anonymous access. This way, an attacker can, for example, fake a remember-me token, assume the identity of the global system administrator and request non-public content from the search service without ever providing any proper authentication. This problem is fixed in Opencast 7.6 and Opencast 8.1

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

This is a remember-me authentication bypass vulnerability in Opencast where a forged cookie containing an arbitrary username grants authentication privileges even when the cookie is invalid, specifically on endpoints that allow anonymous access. An attacker can fake a remember-me token, assume the identity of the global system administrator, and access non-public content from the search service without proper authentication.

MitigationUpgrade to Opencast 7.6 or 8.1 (or later) to obtain the patched version that properly validates remember-me tokens.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
OpencastApplication
Affected:< 7.6= 8.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check Opencast version
    Locate and inspect the Opencast installation directory or check the version file. Common locations include /opt/opencast or a directory specified during installation. Run 'grep -r "opencast" /version/path' or inspect the admin interface for the version number.
    Affected if The installed version is less than 7.6 or exactly equals 8.0
  2. Verify remember-me feature is enabled
    Inspect the Opencast configuration files, typically found in /etc/opencast or <installation_dir>/etc. Look for authentication-related configuration files that contain 'remember.me' or 'rememberme' settings.
    Affected if The remember-me feature is enabled in the authentication configuration
  3. Confirm anonymous access is permitted
    Review the security configuration files in the etc directory. Check endpoint access policies, particularly for search service endpoints. Look for configurations allowing unauthenticated or anonymous access.
    Affected if Anonymous or unauthenticated access is allowed on search service or other relevant endpoints
  4. Examine search service configuration
    Inspect the search service configuration files in the etc directory. Check if the search service endpoint is exposed and accessible without mandatory authentication.
    Affected if The search service is configured to accept requests without full authentication validation

You are affected if your Opencast version is less than 7.6 or exactly 8.0, and you have remember-me functionality enabled with anonymous-accessible endpoints in your environment.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 7.6 or later
Fixed in 7.6
Vendor patch github.com →
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to Opencast 7.6 or 8.1 (or later) to obtain the patched version that properly validates remember-me tokens.

Recommended fix High confidence

Opencast 7.6+ (for 7.x line) or Opencast 8.1+ (for 8.x line)

  1. 1. Back up your Opencast database and configuration files before upgrading
  2. 2. Stop the Opencast services (or gracefully shut down the cluster)
  3. 3. Consult the Opencast upgrade guide for your current version: https://docs.opencast.org/latest/admin/upgrade/
  4. 4. If upgrading from 7.x line: upgrade to Opencast 7.6 (or latest 7.x stable)
  5. 5. If upgrading from 8.0: upgrade to Opencast 8.1 (or latest 8.x stable)
  6. 6. Run any required database migrations as documented in the upgrade guide
  7. 7. Restart Opencast services and verify the search service and other components are functioning
  8. 8. Test that the remember-me functionality works correctly with valid credentials
Caveat Review the release notes between your current version and target version for any configuration or feature changes; major version upgrades may require additional migration steps

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Opencast Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,120
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-5206 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data