Password recovery via non-constant-time comparison
Published Feb 25, 2024 · Updated Mar 27, 2025
Observable timing differences in AnythingLLM before 1.0.0 allow remote attackers to brute-force a single-user instance password. The /request-token handler compares submitted passwords with AUTH_TOKEN using JavaScript !==, whose early exit leaks prefix-match timing. Exposure requires single-user password protection, and variable request overhead makes password recovery unreliable but still risks instance access.
Summary
What happened
Observable timing differences in AnythingLLM before 1.0.0 allow remote attackers to brute-force a single-user instance password. The /request-token handler compares submitted passwords with AUTH_TOKEN using JavaScript !==, whose early exit leaks prefix-match timing. Exposure requires single-user password protection, and variable request overhead makes password recovery unreliable but still risks instance access.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2024-0436
- Published
- Feb 25, 2024
- Updated
- Mar 27, 2025
- Vendor
- Mintplex Labs
- Product
- AnythingLLM
- Classifications
- CWE-203, CAPEC-189, T1110.001
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Feb 25, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Mar 27, 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=unspecified <1.0.0
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
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
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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