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Password Reset Code Brute-Force Vulnerability in AWS Cognito

Published Fri, Apr 30th, 2021

Platforms

aws

Summary

A vulnerability in AWS Cognito's password reset function allowed attackers to brute-force the six-digit reset code, potentially leading to account takeovers. Using concurrent HTTP requests, an attacker could make up to 1587 guesses instead of the documented limit of 20. The issue affected accounts without multi-factor authentication and was fixed by AWS on April 20, 2021.

Affected Services

Cognito

Remediation

Enable multi-factor authentication for AWS Cognito accounts. AWS customers can implement their own rate-limiting before sending requests to AWS Cognito.

Tracked CVEs

No tracked CVEs

References

Contributed by https://github.com/korniko98

Entry Status

Stub (AI-Generated)

Disclosure Date

Mon, Mar 22nd, 2021

Exploitability Period

Until 2021/04/20

Known ITW Exploitation

-

Detection Methods

Monitor for unusual patterns of password reset attempts on AWS Cognito accounts, particularly those involving a high number of failed attempts in a short period.

Piercing Index Rating

-

Discovered by

Tobias Ospelt, Pentagrid AG