Overview
A critical security vulnerability, identified as CVE-2025-56527, has been discovered in Kotaemon version 0.11.0. This vulnerability involves the storage of user passwords in plaintext within the client’s localStorage. This means that if an attacker gains access to the client’s browser or localStorage data, they can easily retrieve user passwords, leading to significant security risks.
Published on 2025-11-18T17:16:04.760, this issue has been assigned a HIGH severity rating.
Technical Details
The vulnerability stems from the application’s design, where user authentication credentials are not properly encrypted or hashed before being stored in the browser’s localStorage. localStorage is a persistent storage mechanism in web browsers, intended for storing non-sensitive data. Storing passwords in plaintext violates fundamental security best practices and significantly increases the risk of credential compromise.
Specifically, the issue exists due to the application’s direct storage of the password value retrieved from the user during login into the `localStorage` variable without any encryption or hashing.
CVSS Analysis
This vulnerability has a CVSS score of 7.5, indicating a high severity. The plaintext storage of passwords makes exploitation relatively straightforward, especially for attackers with local access to the user’s machine or through cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks that could steal the localStorage data.
Possible Impact
The impact of this vulnerability is significant:
- Credential Theft: Attackers can easily retrieve user passwords from localStorage.
- Account Takeover: Compromised credentials can be used to access user accounts, leading to unauthorized access to sensitive data and functionalities.
- Lateral Movement: In environments where users reuse passwords, the compromised credentials could be used to gain access to other systems and applications.
- Reputational Damage: A security breach resulting from this vulnerability could severely damage the reputation of the Kotaemon project and its developers.
Mitigation or Patch Steps
To address this vulnerability, the following steps should be taken immediately:
- Upgrade to a patched version: The developers of Kotaemon have likely released a patched version of the software. Verify and upgrade to the latest version that addresses this issue. Refer to the provided references for specific commit details.
- Implement proper password hashing: Replace the plaintext storage with a secure password hashing algorithm (e.g., bcrypt, Argon2). Salting each password before hashing is crucial.
- Consider alternative storage: Avoid storing sensitive data like passwords in localStorage. Explore secure alternatives like server-side session management or using encrypted cookies (with appropriate HttpOnly and Secure flags).
- Educate users: Inform users about the vulnerability and advise them to change their passwords, especially if they are reused across multiple platforms.
