CVE-2023-32784: Recovering Cleartext Master Passwords from KeePass Process Memory Dumps

A security vulnerability exists in KeePass 2.x before version 2.54, which allows an attacker to recover the cleartext master password from a memory dump under certain conditions. The vulnerability has been assigned the ID: CVE-2023-32784. In this post, we'll present details about the vulnerability, how it can be exploited, and the available mitigation.

Vulnerability Details

The vulnerability affects KeePass 2.x before version 2.54, a popular open-source password manager. Specifically, it is possible for an attacker to recover the cleartext master password from a memory dump, even when a workspace is locked or no longer running. The memory dump can be obtained from various sources:

RAM dump of the entire system

It is important to note that the first character of the master password cannot be recovered from the memory dump.

The discovery of this vulnerability was first reported by a security researcher [LINK TO ORIGINAL REFERENCE]. Based on their analysis, the following code snippet can be used to extract the master password from a memory dump:

import re

def find_master_password(memory_dump):
    # Define a simple regex search pattern
    pattern = r'([^\x00-\x7F]|[\x00-\x19\x7F])'

    # Perform the regex search on the memory dump
    matches = re.finditer(pattern, memory_dump)

    # Iterate through the matches and return the closest 1-byte sequences immediately following the matched pattern
    master_password = ""
    for match in matches:
        master_password += chr(match.start() + 1)

    return master_password

Exploit Details

In order to exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would need to gain unauthorized access to either the target's system or the memory dump files mentioned above. While obtaining these files is not a trivial task, it is important to recognize that this vulnerability could still be exploited under certain conditions.

Mitigation

To protect yourself against this vulnerability, the best course of action is to update KeePass to the latest version, 2.54 or higher. In this version, the developers have implemented a different API usage and/or random string insertion for mitigation. You can download the latest version of KeePass HERE.

Conclusion

The CVE-2023-32784 vulnerability in KeePass 2.x before version 2.54 could allow an attacker to recover the cleartext master password from a memory dump under certain conditions. To ensure the highest level of security, it is recommended to update your KeePass application to the latest version and regularly check for updates.

Timeline

Published on: 05/15/2023 06:15:00 UTC
Last modified on: 05/26/2023 16:25:00 UTC