CVE-2025-70949 in couch-auth
Summary
by MITRE • 03/05/2026
An observable timing discrepancy in @perfood/couch-auth v0.26.0 allows attackers to access sensitive information via a timing side-channel.
Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/10/2026
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2025-70949 represents a critical timing side-channel weakness in the @perfood/couch-auth package version 0.26.0. This flaw exploits observable differences in processing time that occur during authentication operations, creating an avenue for attackers to infer sensitive information through careful measurement of response delays. The vulnerability stems from non-constant time cryptographic operations that do not properly mask the duration of authentication checks, allowing malicious actors to exploit temporal variations in system behavior to gain unauthorized access to protected resources.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability manifests in the authentication module where password verification or token validation routines execute in varying amounts of time depending on the input provided. When attackers systematically test authentication endpoints with different inputs, they can measure the time differences between responses and use statistical analysis to deduce information about valid credentials or internal system states. This timing discrepancy occurs because the implementation does not employ constant-time comparison algorithms that would ensure consistent processing duration regardless of input values. The vulnerability specifically affects the cryptographic verification process within the couch-auth package, where the timing characteristics of hash comparisons or secret validations are directly observable by external parties.
The operational impact of CVE-2025-70949 extends beyond simple credential theft to potentially enable broader unauthorized access to protected systems. Attackers can leverage this timing side-channel to perform brute force attacks with significantly reduced effort compared to traditional methods, as the timing variations provide information that would otherwise be inaccessible through conventional means. This vulnerability particularly affects environments where the @perfood/couch-auth package is used for authentication, potentially compromising user accounts, session tokens, and other sensitive authentication data. The attack vector is particularly concerning because it can be executed remotely without requiring elevated privileges or direct system access, making it accessible to a wide range of threat actors.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability must address the core timing discrepancy in the authentication implementation through constant-time cryptographic operations. The recommended approach involves implementing proper constant-time comparison functions that ensure identical processing duration regardless of input values, thereby eliminating the observable timing differences that enable the side-channel attack. Security practitioners should immediately upgrade to patched versions of the @perfood/couch-auth package where available, while also implementing additional monitoring to detect unusual timing patterns in authentication responses. Organizations using this package should conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify all systems that may be affected and implement rate limiting or other protective measures to reduce the effectiveness of timing-based attacks. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-376, which describes the creation of insecure temporary files, and falls under ATT&CK technique T1212, which covers Obfuscated Files or Information, as it exploits timing characteristics to extract sensitive information through subtle behavioral differences in system responses.