Medium

Bunkum tokens cached in the AuthenticationService are susceptible to a use-after-free

  • Disclosed: 19.10.2023
  • Updated: 11.10.2026 11:22

Impact

First, a little bit of background. So, in the beginning, Bunkum's AuthenticationService only supported injecting IUsers. However, as Refresh and SoundShapesServer implemented permissions systems support for injecting ITokens into endpoints was added. All was well until 4.0.

Bunkum 4.0 then changed to enforce relations between ITokens and IUsers. This wasn't implemented in a very good way in the AuthenticationService, and ended up breaking caching in such a way that cached tokens would persist after the lifetime of the request - since we tried to cache both tokens and users. From that point until now, from what I understand, Bunkum was attempting to use that cached token at the start of the next request once cached.

Naturally, when that token expired, downstream projects like Refresh would remove the object from Realm - and cause the object in the cache to be in a detached state, causing an exception from invalid use of IToken.User. So in other words, a use-after-free since Realm can't manage the lifetime of the cached token.

Security-wise, the scope is fairly limited, can only be pulled off on a couple endpoints given a few conditions, and you can't guarantee which token you're going to get. Also, the token would get invalidated properly if the endpoint had either a IToken usage or a IUser usage. User interaction is required as authenticated requests must be performed.

Patches

The fix is to just wipe the token cache after the request was handled, which is now in 4.2.1. I'd recommend that you update. Unfortunately, there are no real workarounds for other versions in the 4.X.X range.

Affected software

Click a technology to see all vulnerabilities affecting it.

PlatformPackageVulnerable versionsFixed in
.NET (NuGet) Bunkum >= 4.0.0, < 4.2.1 4.2.1

References

CVSS score 5.3/10
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
Weakness (CWE)
CWE-772
Platform
.NET (NuGet)
Package
Bunkum
Disclosed
19.10.2023
Updated
11.10.2026 11:22

Sources and licenses

OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - GHSA-jrf2-h5j6-3rrq - CC BY 4.0

Vulnerability history: Bunkum

All published vulnerabilities of this package (.NET (NuGet)), newest first. Shows whether this is a one-off slip or a package that needs watching.

This is the only known vulnerability of this package.

Know which vulnerabilities affect your application

With the DockRay integration and software inventory enabled, DockRay checks reported component versions against known vulnerabilities and notifies you about confirmed matches. Coverage depends on the supported technology and available advisory data.

Connect your application
DockRay newsletter

Application security in your inbox

Important vulnerabilities, actionable guidance and practical advice for your applications. Choose your technologies and follow what matters to your project.

  • A daily digest of new vulnerabilities, critical ones included.
  • Notifications about important updates.
  • Practical advice on application security and monitoring.

Leave empty to receive updates for every technology.

Free to subscribe. Unsubscribe with one click in any email.