Cyber Resilience

CVE-2024-40761

Crypto Weakness in Apache Answer ≤ 1.3.5

Crypto Weakness
Published
25 September 2024
Modified
10 July 2025
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 5.3
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0075 52th percentile
Risk Priority 46 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2024-40761 is a medium-severity Inadequate Encryption Strength (CWE-326) vulnerability in Apache Answer. Its CVSS base score is 5.3 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Brute Force (T1110); ranked in the top 48% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SC-13 (Cryptographic Protection) and SC-12 (Cryptographic Key Establishment and Management) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A04:2025 Cryptographic Failures

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Inadequate Encryption Strength vulnerability in Apache Answer. This issue affects Apache Answer: through 1.3.5. Using the MD5 value of a user's email to access Gravatar is insecure and can lead to the leakage of user email. The official recommendation is…

more

to use SHA256 instead. Users are recommended to upgrade to version 1.4.0, which fixes the issue.

CWE(s)
CWE-326

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1110 Brute Force Credential Access
Adversaries may use brute force techniques to gain access to accounts when passwords are unknown or when password hashes are obtained.
attack.mitre.org →
T1557 Adversary-in-the-Middle Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to position themselves between two or more networked devices using an adversary-in-the-middle (AiTM) technique to support follow-on behaviors such as [Network Sniffing](https://attack.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-45719Same product: Apache Answer
CVE-2026-34033Same product: Apache Answer
CVE-2026-60023Same product: Apache Answer
CVE-2026-25700Same product: Apache Answer
CVE-2024-41888Same product: Apache Answer
CVE-2026-34905Same product: Apache Answer
CVE-2024-41890Same product: Apache Answer
CVE-2023-27987Same vendor: Apache
CVE-2026-34031Same product: Apache Answer
CVE-2026-48911Same product: Apache Answer

Affected Assets

apache
answer
≤ 1.3.5

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 14 hardening rules · 7 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V11.4.2
  • V14.1.2
  • V14.2.4

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SC-13 Cryptographic Protection good match

SC-13 requires selection and implementation of specific cryptographic algorithms and key lengths, directly preventing use of inadequate encryption strength.

SC-12 Cryptographic Key Establishment and Management partial match

SC-12 governs cryptographic key establishment and management, which can enforce sufficient key sizes and thereby reduce inadequate encryption strength.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.DS-01 mostly match
prevents

Strong encryption is required to protect confidentiality of data-at-rest.

PR.DS-02 mostly match
prevents

Strong encryption is required to protect confidentiality of data-in-transit.

PR.PS-01 partial match
prevents

Hardened baselines can enforce minimum cryptographic algorithm and key-length settings.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.24 Use of cryptography partial match
prevents

Requiring the organization to define and enforce minimum cryptographic strength prevents deployment of insufficient key lengths or weak ciphers that can be brute-forced.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 9 (1 rule)
  • V-271756 OL 9 local disk partitions must implement cryptographic mechanisms to prevent unauthorized disclosure or modification of all information that requires at rest protection. prevents CWE-326
RHEL 8 (1 rule)
  • V-230224 All RHEL 8 local disk partitions must implement cryptographic mechanisms to prevent unauthorized disclosure or modification of all information that requires at rest protection. prevents CWE-326
RHEL 9 (1 rule)
  • V-257879 RHEL 9 local disk partitions must implement cryptographic mechanisms to prevent unauthorized disclosure or modification of all information that requires at rest protection. prevents CWE-326
Windows Server 2016 (1 rule)
  • V-224843 Systems requiring data at rest protections must employ cryptographic mechanisms to prevent unauthorized disclosure and modification of the information at rest. prevents CWE-326

References