CVE-2022-48366 in Platform Ibexa Kernel
Summary
by MITRE • 03/12/2023
An issue was discovered in eZ Platform Ibexa Kernel before 1.3.19. It allows determining account existence via a timing attack.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/06/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2022-48366 affects the eZ Platform Ibexa Kernel version prior to 1.3.19 and represents a significant security flaw that enables attackers to determine account existence through timing analysis techniques. This type of vulnerability falls under the category of timing attacks which exploit the time taken by cryptographic operations or system responses to infer sensitive information about the target system. The issue specifically manifests in the kernel's handling of user authentication or account verification processes where response times vary depending on whether an account exists or not, creating a measurable difference that can be exploited by malicious actors.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inconsistent response timing behaviors within the authentication system. When a user attempts to authenticate with a valid account, the system may take a different amount of time to respond compared to when an invalid account is submitted. This timing discrepancy occurs because legitimate account verification processes typically involve additional database lookups and cryptographic operations that take longer than immediate rejection of non-existent accounts. The timing attack leverages this difference by measuring response times across multiple authentication attempts and correlating the variations to determine if specific user accounts exist within the system. This flaw directly aligns with CWE-203, which describes "Observable Behavioral Vulnerability" where system behavior reveals information about internal states or processes.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple account enumeration, as it provides attackers with a foundational foothold for more sophisticated attacks within the eZ Platform ecosystem. Once account existence is confirmed, attackers can proceed with targeted brute force attacks, credential stuffing, or social engineering campaigns with significantly higher success rates. The vulnerability particularly affects systems where user account management is critical, including content management platforms, enterprise portals, and web applications that rely on robust user authentication mechanisms. This weakness compromises the principle of least privilege and can lead to unauthorized access to sensitive information, especially when combined with other vulnerabilities or attack vectors within the same application stack.
Organizations utilizing eZ Platform Ibexa Kernel versions prior to 1.3.19 should implement immediate mitigations including updating to the patched version 1.3.19 or later, which addresses the timing inconsistency in authentication responses. Additional defensive measures include implementing constant-time comparison algorithms for authentication responses, adding rate limiting mechanisms to prevent rapid enumeration attempts, and deploying monitoring solutions to detect unusual authentication patterns. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques such as credential access and reconnaissance, specifically targeting the T1110.003 technique for credential stuffing and T1589.002 for reconnaissance using network scanning. The mitigation strategies should also incorporate proper logging and alerting mechanisms to detect potential timing attack attempts and ensure that authentication responses are consistently timed regardless of account existence to prevent information leakage through temporal side channels.