Is This vulnerability exploited in the wild?

No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of This vulnerability being exploited in the wild.

How severe is This vulnerability?

Informational severity, published 4 September 2020.

Is there a fix for This vulnerability?

No fixed version is recorded yet. Check the vendor's advisory in the references below. If you run it, Junglewise drafts a mitigation that fits your setup and applies it once you approve, with senior security engineers behind it.

How is This vulnerability attacked?

It is attacked over the network, in a software library.

Check whether you run parsel (npm) at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

parsel hardcoded initialization vector in encryption

Severity: info · Published 2020-09-04

parsel is a deprecated npm package used for encryption operations. The package uses a hardcoded initialization vector (IV) for cipher operations, which weakens encryption security. An attacker with knowledge of the IV can perform chosen plaintext attacks to decrypt or forge encrypted data, potentially exposing sensitive information protected by the package.

Technologies: parsel (npm). Vendors: npm.

Quick answers

Is This vulnerability exploited in the wild?: No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of This vulnerability being exploited in the wild.
How severe is This vulnerability?: Informational severity, published 4 September 2020.
Which products and versions are affected?: parsel (npm) all versions.
Is there a fix for This vulnerability?: No fixed version is recorded yet. Check the vendor's advisory in the references below. If you run it, Junglewise drafts a mitigation that fits your setup and applies it once you approve, with senior security engineers behind it.
How is This vulnerability attacked?: It is attacked over the network, in a software library.
Am I affected?: Check whether you run parsel (npm) at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

Technical details

parsel contains a cryptographic weakness: all versions default to a hardcoded initialization vector when none is provided by the caller. This violates cryptographic best practices, as IVs must be unique and unpredictable for each encryption operation to prevent attacks. The vulnerability allows an attacker to perform chosen plaintext attacks against data encrypted with this library, potentially recovering plaintext or forging valid ciphertexts. No patch is available; the package is deprecated and will not be updated. Users should migrate to alternative encryption libraries.

Affected products

npm parsel all versions

Timeline

2020-09-04: disclosed

References

https://www.npmjs.com/advisories/1460

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