CVE-2024-55008 in JATOS
Summary
by MITRE • 01/07/2025
JATOS 3.9.4 contains a denial-of-service (DoS) vulnerability in the authentication system, where an attacker can prevent legitimate users from accessing their accounts by repeatedly sending multiple failed login attempts. Specifically, by submitting 3 incorrect login attempts every minute, the attacker can trigger the account lockout mechanism on the account level, effectively locking the user out indefinitely. Since the lockout is applied to the user account and not based on the IP address, any attacker can trigger the lockout on any user account, regardless of their privileges.
If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/24/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-55008 resides within JATOS version 3.9.4, a platform designed for running psychological experiments and behavioral research studies. This security flaw manifests as a denial-of-service condition specifically targeting the authentication infrastructure, creating a scenario where legitimate users face unauthorized access disruption. The affected system demonstrates a critical weakness in its account lockout mechanism implementation, which fails to properly differentiate between legitimate user authentication attempts and malicious attack patterns. The vulnerability operates through a straightforward yet effective mechanism where an attacker can systematically exploit the system's response to failed authentication attempts.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the absence of rate limiting or intelligent account lockout controls within the authentication subsystem. When an attacker submits three incorrect login attempts per minute, the system triggers an account-level lockout that persists indefinitely, effectively preventing legitimate users from accessing their accounts. This flaw represents a fundamental design issue in the authentication flow where the system lacks proper account lockout mechanisms that consider temporal patterns and IP-based tracking. The vulnerability specifically affects the user account level rather than implementing IP-based restrictions, which allows any attacker to target any user account regardless of their privileges or access rights to the system. This architectural weakness creates a scenario where account lockout becomes a weaponized feature rather than a protective mechanism.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple access disruption to create significant security and usability concerns for JATOS users. Legitimate researchers and participants who rely on the platform for their studies face potential interruption of their work, which could result in data loss or research delays. The vulnerability creates a persistent threat where attackers can systematically disable accounts without requiring elevated privileges or sophisticated attack vectors. This particular weakness enables what security professionals would classify as a privilege escalation attack through account lockout mechanisms, where an attacker can effectively gain unauthorized control over user resources by preventing legitimate access. The vulnerability also demonstrates poor adherence to security best practices outlined in the OWASP Top Ten, specifically addressing weak account management and authentication controls.
The vulnerability directly correlates to CWE-307, which addresses "Improper Restriction of Excessive Authentication Attempts," and aligns with several ATT&CK techniques including T1110.003 for Brute Force and T1566 for Phishing, as the system's authentication mechanism lacks proper protections against automated attack patterns. Organizations implementing JATOS 3.9.4 face significant risk of operational disruption, particularly in research environments where continuous access to experimental data and participant information is critical. The vulnerability also exposes the system to potential abuse by malicious actors who can systematically target specific user accounts, creating a scenario where legitimate research activities are disrupted through coordinated account lockout attacks.
Mitigation strategies should focus on implementing proper account lockout policies with intelligent rate limiting mechanisms that differentiate between legitimate authentication attempts and attack patterns. The system should incorporate IP-based tracking alongside account-level lockout mechanisms to prevent attackers from targeting arbitrary accounts. Security measures should include adaptive authentication controls that can detect and respond to automated attack patterns, potentially implementing temporary lockouts based on IP address ranges rather than individual accounts. Organizations should also consider implementing multi-factor authentication controls and monitoring systems that can detect unusual authentication patterns and alert administrators to potential abuse. The fix requires fundamental changes to the authentication subsystem to ensure that account lockout mechanisms provide protection rather than creating new attack vectors, aligning with NIST SP 800-63B guidelines for authentication system design and implementation.