CVE-2020-4071

Credential inference via variable-time string comparison

Published Jun 24, 2020 · Updated Aug 4, 2024

Timing information disclosure in Torchbox django-basic-auth-ip-whitelist before 0.3.4 allows attackers to infer Basic Auth credentials. The authorize function in baipw/utils.py compares supplied username and password strings with short-circuiting equality, so response timing varies with matching prefixes. Basic authentication must be enabled, and the attack requires measurements from a nearby network; IP-whitelist-only deployments are unaffected.

CVSS severity2.4
Low
EPSS probability0.36%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Timing information disclosure in Torchbox django-basic-auth-ip-whitelist before 0.3.4 allows attackers to infer Basic Auth credentials. The authorize function in baipw/utils.py compares supplied username and password strings with short-circuiting equality, so response timing varies with matching prefixes. Basic authentication must be enabled, and the attack requires measurements from a nearby network; IP-whitelist-only deployments are unaffected.

The record

CVE
CVE-2020-4071
Published
Jun 24, 2020
Updated
Aug 4, 2024
Vendor
Torchbox
Product
django-basic-auth-ip-whitelist
Classifications
CWE-208
Attack vector
adjacent
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jun 24, 2020CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 4, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=< 0.3.4

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectoradjacent
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Torchbox · django-basic-auth-ip-whitelistversion=< 0.3.4

Published CVSS scores

2.4NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
2.2GitHub, Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:N/A:N
2.1NIST NVDAV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectoradjacent
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-208Observable Timing Discrepancy

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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