CVE-2020-5229

Opencast stores passwords using outdated MD5 hash algorithm

HIGH
8.1
CVSS Score
Published: January 30, 2020 at 08:05 PM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 03:21 AM UTC
2 products affected across 2 vendorsOpencastOpencast

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Severity
HIGH8.1
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.6%

Description

Opencast before 8.1 stores passwords using the rather outdated and cryptographically insecure MD5 hash algorithm. Furthermore, the hashes are salted using the username instead of a random salt, causing hashes for users with the same username and password to collide which is problematic especially for popular users like the default `admin` user. This essentially means that for an attacker, it might be feasible to reconstruct a user's password given access to these hashes. Note that attackers needing access to the hashes means that they must gain access to the database in which these are stored first to be able to start cracking the passwords. The problem is addressed in Opencast 8.1 which now uses the modern and much stronger bcrypt password hashing algorithm for storing passwords. Note, that old hashes remain MD5 until the password is updated. For a list of users whose password hashes are stored using MD5, take a look at the `/user-utils/users/md5.json` REST endpoint.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

v < 8.1
Affected range stops below 8.1, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
v < 8.1
Affected range stops below 8.1, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:

CVSS

Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
HIGH
Integrity
HIGH
Availability
NONE
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
CWE-327

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