API key disclosure via timing-sensitive comparison
Published Dec 5, 2022 · Updated Apr 23, 2025
Observable discrepancy in the Clerk WordPress plugin before 4.0.0 allows remote attackers to infer stored API keys via response timing. The API request validation function compares supplied key values against site-option secrets with ordinary comparison operators, returning sooner at the first mismatch. No authentication is required to query the REST endpoints, and repeated timing measurements can disclose keys without changing site data.
Summary
What happened
Observable discrepancy in the Clerk WordPress plugin before 4.0.0 allows remote attackers to infer stored API keys via response timing. The API request validation function compares supplied key values against site-option secrets with ordinary comparison operators, returning sooner at the first mismatch. No authentication is required to query the REST endpoints, and repeated timing measurements can disclose keys without changing site data.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-3907
- Published
- Dec 5, 2022
- Updated
- Apr 23, 2025
- Vendor
- Clerk
- Product
- Clerk
- Classifications
- CWE-203
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Dec 5, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Apr 23, 2025Record 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.
- Affected versionversion=0 <4.0.0
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- WPScan timing-oracle proof of conceptproof of concept · validated
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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