CVE-2020-15128

Workarounds

Apply https://github.com/octobercms/library/commit/28310d4fb336a1741b39498f4474497644a6875c to your installation manually if unable to upgrade to Build 468.

References

• https://blog.laravel.com/laravel-cookie-security-releases
• https://github.com/laravel/framework/compare/4c7d118181d6c7f1f883643702df807ced016c5e...a731824421f9ebc586728ea9c7cff231a249aaa9

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

• Email us at [email protected]

Threat Assessment

Assessed as Low given that it is not directly exploitable within the core but requires other security vulnerabilities within the application to have an effect and the severity of its effect depends entirely on the severity of those other holes in the application's defences.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Takashi Terada of Mitsui Bussan Secure Directions, Inc. for finding the original issue in Laravel and @taylorotwell for sharing the report with the October CMS team.

Previously encrypted cookie values were not tied to the name of the cookie the value belonged to. This meant that certain classes of attacks that took advantage of other theoretical vulnerabilities in user facing code (nothing exploitable in the core project itself) had a higher chance of succeeding.

Specifically, if your usage exposed a way for users to provide unfiltered user input and have it returned to them as an encrypted cookie (ex. storing a user provided search query in a cookie) they could then use the generated cookie in place of other more tightly controlled cookies; or if your usage exposed the plaintext version of an encrypted cookie at any point to the user they could theoretically provide encrypted content from your application back to it as an encrypted cookie and force the framework to decrypt it for them.

The application uses a cryptographic algorithm known to have weaknesses, such as MD5, SHA-1, or DES. Typical impact: compromised confidentiality or integrity of protected data.

CVE-2020-15128 has a CVSS score of 6.1 (Medium). The vector is network-reachable, no privileges required, and user interaction required. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (1.0.468); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

Issue has been patched in Build 468 (v1.0.468).

NOTE: If you are using the cookie session driver, all of your session data will be invalidated. All other session drivers should smoothly upgrade to the changes (although the backend authentication persist cookie will also be invalidated requiring users to login again once their current session expires).

1. What is CVE-2020-15128? CVE-2020-15128 is a medium-severity use of a broken or risky cryptographic algorithm vulnerability in october/rain (composer), affecting versions >= 1.0.319, < 1.0.468. It is fixed in 1.0.468. The application uses a cryptographic algorithm known to have weaknesses, such as MD5, SHA-1, or DES.
2. How severe is CVE-2020-15128? CVE-2020-15128 has a CVSS score of 6.1 (Medium). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
3. Which versions of october/rain are affected by CVE-2020-15128? october/rain (composer) versions >= 1.0.319, < 1.0.468 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2020-15128? Yes. CVE-2020-15128 is fixed in 1.0.468. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2020-15128 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2020-15128 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
6. What actually determines whether CVE-2020-15128 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
7. How do I fix CVE-2020-15128? Upgrade october/rain to 1.0.468 or later.