CVE-2015-8125 in Symfony
Summary
by MITRE
Symfony 2.3.x before 2.3.35, 2.6.x before 2.6.12, and 2.7.x before 2.7.7 might allow remote attackers to have unspecified impact via a timing attack involving the (1) Symfony/Component/Security/Http/RememberMe/PersistentTokenBasedRememberMeServices or (2) Symfony/Component/Security/Http/Firewall/DigestAuthenticationListener class in the Symfony Security Component, or (3) legacy CSRF implementation from the Symfony/Component/Form/Extension/Csrf/CsrfProvider/DefaultCsrfProvider class in the Symfony Form component.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/28/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2015-8125 represents a critical timing attack susceptibility within the Symfony PHP framework security components. This weakness affects multiple versions of Symfony 2.3.x, 2.6.x, and 2.7.x, specifically before the mentioned patch releases, creating a significant risk for applications utilizing these framework versions. The vulnerability manifests through three distinct attack vectors that target fundamental security mechanisms within Symfony's authentication and form handling systems.
The technical flaw stems from the implementation of cryptographic operations within the security components that do not employ constant-time comparison algorithms. When processing authentication tokens through PersistentTokenBasedRememberMeServices or DigestAuthenticationListener classes, or when handling CSRF protection via DefaultCsrfProvider, the framework performs string comparisons that vary in execution time based on the input data. This timing variation creates observable differences in response times that attackers can exploit to infer sensitive information through side-channel analysis. The vulnerability specifically impacts the Symfony/Component/Security/Http/RememberMe/PersistentTokenBasedRememberMeServices class which handles persistent login tokens, the Symfony/Component/Security/Http/Firewall/DigestAuthenticationListener class responsible for digest authentication, and the legacy CSRF implementation within Symfony/Component/Form/Extension/Csrf/CsrfProvider/DefaultCsrfProvider class that manages cross-site request forgery protection.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure, potentially enabling attackers to perform credential guessing attacks, session hijacking, and privilege escalation attempts. Attackers can leverage the timing variations to reconstruct authentication tokens, bypass CSRF protection mechanisms, or determine valid credentials through repeated timing measurements. The vulnerability affects applications that rely on Symfony's built-in security features, making it particularly dangerous as it targets core framework functionality that most applications depend upon for secure authentication and authorization. Organizations running affected Symfony versions face significant risk of unauthorized access to user accounts, data breaches, and potential system compromise, especially in environments where the framework handles sensitive authentication data.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2015-8125 require immediate patching of affected Symfony versions to the recommended secure releases, specifically upgrading to Symfony 2.3.35, 2.6.12, or 2.7.7 respectively. Organizations should also implement additional security measures including monitoring for suspicious authentication patterns, implementing rate limiting on authentication attempts, and ensuring that all applications are regularly updated to maintain security compliance. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-204, which addresses timing attack weaknesses in cryptographic implementations, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1212 for Exploitation for Credential Access. Security teams should conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify all affected applications and ensure proper patch management procedures are in place to prevent similar timing attack vulnerabilities in the future.