CVE-2020-26214

LDAP authentication bypass with empty password

Workarounds

LDAP administrators can disallow unauthenticated bind requests by clients.

References

https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4513#section-5.1.2
https://pypi.org/project/alerta-server/8.1.0/

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

• Add a comment to the issue #1277
• Email us at [email protected]

Users may be able to bypass LDAP authentication if they provide an empty password when Alerta server is configure to use LDAP as the authorization provider.

Only deployments where LDAP servers are configured to allow unauthenticated binds (eg. default on Active Directory) are affected.

The application does not adequately verify the identity of a user, device, or process before granting access. Typical impact: unauthorized access to functions or data reserved for authenticated parties.

CVE-2020-26214 has a CVSS score of 9.1 (Critical). The vector is network-reachable, no privileges required, and no user interaction. 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 (8.1.0, 7.5.7); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

Already deployed Kodem?

A fix has been implemented that returns HTTP 401 Unauthorized response for any authentication attempts where the password field is empty. See https://github.com/alerta/alerta/pull/1345

1. What is CVE-2020-26214? CVE-2020-26214 is a critical-severity improper authentication vulnerability in alerta-server (pip), affecting versions >= 8.0.0, < 8.1.0. It is fixed in 8.1.0, 7.5.7. The application does not adequately verify the identity of a user, device, or process before granting access.
2. How severe is CVE-2020-26214? CVE-2020-26214 has a CVSS score of 9.1 (Critical). 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 alerta-server are affected by CVE-2020-26214? alerta-server (pip) versions >= 8.0.0, < 8.1.0 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2020-26214? Yes. CVE-2020-26214 is fixed in 8.1.0, 7.5.7. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2020-26214 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2020-26214 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-2020-26214 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-2020-26214?
   • Upgrade alerta-server to 8.1.0 or later
   • Upgrade alerta-server to 7.5.7 or later

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