Cyber Risks · PortSwigger Research

Lab: Basic password reset poisoning

Summary: PortSwigger's lab demonstrates password reset poisoning: the POST /forgot-password request accepts an arbitrary Host header, so the reset email sent to a user contains a link pointing at the attacker's domain. By setting the Host header to their exploit server and the username parameter to carlos, the attacker captures Carlos's temp-forgot-password-token in the access log and uses it to reset his password and log in.

Why it matters: The reset token lands in the attacker's access log simply because the application trusted a client-supplied Host header when building the email link - a single unvalidated header turns a routine account-recovery flow into full account takeover for any user who clicks the link.

Read the original at PortSwigger Research ↗

Topics
Vulnerabilities & Patching
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