CVE-2019-20174: Security Update for Auth0 Lock Library

Published: January 30, 2020

CVE number: CVE-2019-20174

Credit: Muhamad Visat

Auth0 Lock version 11.20.4 and earlier did not properly sanitize the generated HTML code. Customers using the additionalSignUpFields customization option to add a checkbox to the sign-up dialog who are passing a placeholder property obtained from an untrusted source (e.g., a query parameter) could allow cross-site scripting (XSS) on their sign-up pages.

You are affected by this vulnerability if all of the following conditions apply:

• You are using Auth0 Lock version 11.20.4 or earlier.

• You pass additionalSignUpFields as an option when initializing Lock, and it includes a field of type checkbox with a placeholder value obtained from an untrusted source.

An example of a vulnerable snippet is the following where the placeholder value is partially user-controlled by the name query parameter:

<script>
    var params = new URLSearchParams(window.location.search);
    var options = {
        auth: {
            redirectUrl: 'http://localhost:12345/callback',
            responseType: 'code',
            params: {
                scope: 'openid email',
            },
        },
        additionalSignUpFields: [{
            name: 'agree',
            type: 'checkbox',
            placeholder: "I agree to Terms & Conditions for " + params.get('name'),
        }],
    };
    var lock = new Auth0Lock('<CLIENT_ID>', '<TENANT_NAME>.auth0.com', options);
    lock.show({
        allowShowPassword: true,
        initialScreen: 'signUp',
    });
</script>

Developers using Auth0’s Lock sign-in solution need to upgrade to version 11.21.0 or later. Version 11.21.0 introduces two changes:

1. The existing placeholder property is now treated as plain text to mitigate the problem.

2. A new placeholderHTML property is introduced that indicates the level of control it provides and that its value should be supplied only from trusted sources.

This fix patches the Auth0 Lock widget and may require changes in application code, but it will not impact your users, their current state, or any existing sessions.

Developers using the placeholder property with HTML content from a trusted source should start using the placeholderHTML property to continue providing the same user experience.