CVE-2020-28937
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2020-28937 is a missing authentication vulnerability in OpenClinic that allows unauthenticated attackers to access any patient's medical test results via direct requests to the /tests/ URI. This exposes Protected Health Information (PHI) stored in the application. All users running OpenClinic version 0.8.2 are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- OpenClinic
📦 What is this software?
Openclinic by Openclinic Project
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Mass PHI data breach with all patient medical test results exposed, leading to regulatory violations (HIPAA), reputational damage, and potential identity theft or medical fraud.
Likely Case
Unauthorized access to sensitive patient medical data, privacy violations, and potential regulatory fines for healthcare organizations.
If Mitigated
No data exposure if proper authentication controls are implemented and network access is restricted.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires only a web browser or HTTP client to access the vulnerable endpoint. The advisory includes technical details that could be weaponized.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Unknown
Vendor Advisory: No official vendor advisory found
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
No official patch available. Consider upgrading to a newer version if available, or implement authentication controls manually.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Implement Authentication Middleware
allAdd authentication checks before serving /tests/ endpoint requests
# Requires modifying OpenClinic source code to add authentication checks
Web Server Access Control
linuxConfigure web server (Apache/Nginx) to require authentication for /tests/ path
# Apache: <Location "/tests/">
# AuthType Basic
# AuthName "Restricted"
# Require valid-user
# </Location>
# Nginx: location /tests/ {
# auth_basic "Restricted";
# auth_basic_user_file /etc/nginx/.htpasswd;
# }
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Network segmentation: Isolate OpenClinic server to internal network only, block external access
- Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to block unauthenticated access to /tests/ endpoint
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Attempt to access http://[openclinic-server]/tests/ without authentication. If medical test data is returned, the system is vulnerable.Check Version:
Check OpenClinic version in application interface or configuration filesVerify Fix Applied:
After implementing controls, verify that unauthenticated requests to /tests/ return authentication required error or no data.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unauthenticated GET requests to /tests/ endpoint
- Multiple failed authentication attempts followed by /tests/ access
Network Indicators:
- Unusual volume of requests to /tests/ endpoint from single IP
- External IP addresses accessing /tests/ without prior authentication
SIEM Query:
source="web_server" AND (uri="/tests/" OR uri="/tests/*") AND NOT (user!="anonymous" OR auth_success="true")