Using a password manager is quite common to store the keys. It is useful to avoid having to memorize so many and, also, to generate them safely. The problem is that, sometimes, we can find that a program that we use has some vulnerability. This is what happened with a Security flaw detected in KeePass, one of the most popular key managers. We are going to explain what it consists of and what you can do.
The password managers They can be online and also offline. Generally, the first ones are the ones that tend to have the most risks, since your keys are stored in the cloud. But that does not mean that there can also be failures with applications to manage keys on your own device.
Security flaw in KeePass
This KeePass vulnerability It has been registered as CVE-2023-32784. In case an attacker exploits it, he could recover the master key through the system, even if the system is not running or is locked. To demonstrate the problem, a security researcher has created the KeePass 2.X Master Password Dumper tool that analyzes memory dumps and displays the key in plain text.
Specifically, it means that this security breach can return all but the first character of the master password. But of course, once you have all the characters except one, it’s not too difficult to figure out which one is missing. However, they indicate that it is not very likely that this flaw will be exploited on a large scale.
Regardless of whether it is more or less likely to be exploited on a large scale, this is certainly a major problem. The fact of having access to the KeePass master keymeans that a hypothetical attacker could have control over all the passwords that have been stored.
Solution to the problem
KeePass developers are already working on fixing the problem. They ensure that a future update, Kee Pass 2.54, will avoid this vulnerability. But for that there are still weeks until it is available. However, they indicate that they are working to shorten the times as much as possible.
On the part of the researchers behind this discovery, they give some options to solve the problem. One of them is to remove hibernation from the computer. They also recommend changing the master password, to minimize the risk. Furthermore, it advises Windows users to use disk encryption software.
A major problem is using a password that is weak and can be predictable. If an attacker manages to obtain part of the characters of that key and it is very simple, he will not have much difficulty in finding out what is missing. On the other hand, if the password is totally random and uses characters that have no relation to the user, it is more difficult for them to figure it out.
Therefore, it is important that you use a really strong key. It uses letters (upper and lower case), numbers and other special symbols. Avoid using words or numbers that may be easy to figure out and that will go a long way in protecting your security, not just when using the KeePass password manager.
As you can see, if you use KeePass you can run the risk of breaking your master key. Although it is unlikely to happen, it is a problem that is present. You can follow the advice we have given until they release the future update that will fix this bug.