Summary
Kirby CMS vulnerable to user enumeration in the code-based login and password reset forms
TL;DR
This vulnerability only affects you if you are using the code or password-reset auth method with the auth.methods option. It can only be successfully exploited under server configuration conditions outside of the attacker's control.
Introduction
User enumeration is a type of vulnerability that allows attackers to confirm which users are registered in a Kirby installation. This information can be abused for social engineering attacks against users of the site or to find out the organizational structure of the company.
User enumeration attacks are performed by entering an existing and a non-existing user into the email address field of the login form. If the system returns a different response or behaves differently depending on whether the user exists, the attacker can enter unknown email addresses and use the different behavior as a clue for the (non-)existing user.
Workarounds
We recommend to update to one of the patch releases. If you cannot update immediately, you can work around the issue by setting the auth.methods option to password, which disables the code-based login and password reset forms.
However please note that your site will still be vulnerable against another user enumeration issue that was also fixed in the same patch releases.
Credits
Thanks to Florian Merz (@florianmrz) of hatchery.io for responsibly reporting the identified issue.
Impact
Under normal circumstances, entering an invalid email address results in a "fake" login code form that looks exactly like the one of an existing user (unless debugging is enabled). However, the code that handles the creation of a code challenge (for code-based login or password reset) didn't catch errors that occurred while the challenge request was processed:
- If the challenge itself runs into an error (e.g. if the email could not be sent), attackers could tell existing users (where the challenge code is called) from non-existing users (where the challenge code is not called and therefore does not output an error).
- If you are using the
user.login:failedhook and any exception is thrown within the hook, attackers could see that the user does not exist.
As long as no error occurs during challenge creation and during the processing of the user.login:failed hook, your Kirby sites are not affected by this vulnerability.
CVE-2022-39314 has a CVSS score of 4.8 (Medium). 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 (3.5.8.2, 3.6.6.2, 3.7.5.1, 3.8.1); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
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. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
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The problems have been patched in Kirby 3.5.8.2, Kirby 3.6.6.2, Kirby 3.7.5.1 and Kirby 3.8.1. Please update to one of these or a later version to fix the vulnerability.
All of the mentioned releases contain two patches for this vulnerability:
- All errors that occur during the creation of an auth challenge (code-based login or password reset) are swallowed by the backend and only displayed to the user if debugging is enabled.
- We added a new
auth.debugoption that can be enabled separately from thedebugoption. If disabled, auth errors are only printed to the PHP error log. This ensures that security-critical errors are only displayed if they are really necessary for debugging.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2022-39314? CVE-2022-39314 is a medium-severity security vulnerability in getkirby/cms (composer), affecting versions >= 3.5.0, < 3.5.8.2. It is fixed in 3.5.8.2, 3.6.6.2, 3.7.5.1, 3.8.1.
- How severe is CVE-2022-39314? CVE-2022-39314 has a CVSS score of 4.8 (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.
- Which versions of getkirby/cms are affected by CVE-2022-39314? getkirby/cms (composer) versions >= 3.5.0, < 3.5.8.2 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2022-39314? Yes. CVE-2022-39314 is fixed in 3.5.8.2, 3.6.6.2, 3.7.5.1, 3.8.1. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2022-39314 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2022-39314 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
- What actually determines whether CVE-2022-39314 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.
- How do I fix CVE-2022-39314?
- Upgrade
getkirby/cmsto 3.5.8.2 or later - Upgrade
getkirby/cmsto 3.6.6.2 or later - Upgrade
getkirby/cmsto 3.7.5.1 or later - Upgrade
getkirby/cmsto 3.8.1 or later
- Upgrade