Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-41896

High

Published: 19 October 2023

Published
19 October 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
KEV Added
Patch
CVSS Score v3.1 7.1 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0020 42.6th percentile
Risk Priority 14 60% EPSS · 20% KEV · 20% CVSS

Summary

CVE-2023-41896 is a high-severity Insufficient Verification of Data Authenticity (CWE-345) vulnerability in Home-Assistant Home-Assistant. Its CVSS base score is 7.1 (High).

Operationally, ranked at the 42.6th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability details

Home assistant is an open source home automation. Whilst auditing the frontend code to identify hidden parameters, Cure53 detected `auth_callback=1`, which is leveraged by the WebSocket authentication logic in tandem with the `state` parameter. The state parameter contains the `hassUrl`,…

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which is subsequently utilized to establish a WebSocket connection. This behavior permits an attacker to create a malicious Home Assistant link with a modified state parameter that forces the frontend to connect to an alternative WebSocket backend. Henceforth, the attacker can spoof any WebSocket responses and trigger cross site scripting (XSS). Since the XSS is executed on the actual Home Assistant frontend domain, it can connect to the real Home Assistant backend, which essentially represents a comprehensive takeover scenario. Permitting the site to be iframed by other origins, as discussed in GHSA-935v-rmg9-44mw, renders this exploit substantially covert since a malicious website can obfuscate the compromise strategy in the background. However, even without this, the attacker can still send the `auth_callback` link directly to the victim user. To mitigate this issue, Cure53 advises modifying the WebSocket code’s authentication flow. An optimal implementation in this regard would not trust the `hassUrl` passed in by a GET parameter. Cure53 must stipulate the significant time required of the Cure53 consultants to identify an XSS vector, despite holding full control over the WebSocket responses. In many areas, data from the WebSocket was properly sanitized, which hinders post-exploitation. The audit team eventually detected the `js_url` for custom panels, though generally, the frontend exhibited reasonable security hardening. This issue has been addressed in Home Assistant Core version 2023.8.0 and in the npm package home-assistant-js-websocket in version 8.2.0. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.

Affected Assets

home-assistant
home-assistant
≤ 2023.8.0
home-assistant
home-assistant-js-websocket
≤ 8.2.0

Mitigating Controls

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

addresses: CWE-345

Directly requires independent verification of matching output before adverse decisions, mitigating insufficient authenticity checks on data from external sources.

addresses: CWE-345

Use of approved PKI certificates provides verifiable data authenticity and origin for communications and artifacts.

addresses: CWE-345

Mandates provision of authenticity and integrity artifacts that enable verification of name/address resolution data.

addresses: CWE-345

Requires explicit verification of data authenticity from authoritative sources, preventing acceptance of unauthenticated resolution responses.

addresses: CWE-345

Control requires verification of data authenticity/integrity (e.g., checksums) after aggregation/packing, directly reducing exploitation of insufficient verification before transmission.

addresses: CWE-345

Time synchronization supports reliable freshness verification when checking data authenticity across systems or components.

addresses: CWE-345

Mandates verification of data authenticity for software, firmware, and information.

addresses: CWE-345

Provenance documentation and monitoring directly enables verification of authenticity for components and data throughout their history.

References