CVE-2026-78655
Punk::Plugin::TOTP versions before 0.05 for Perl allow the second-factor attempt limit to be reset by replaying an earlier session cookie because the challenge route counts failures in the session
The POST handler on challenge_path keeps the failure count as tries inside the totp_pending record in the session, raising it on each rejected code and deleting the pending record once it reaches attempts, five by default. Punk::Session carries the session in a signed cookie unless the application declares a store, and keeps no server-side record, so an earlier value of the same session stays valid until the expiry stamped inside it. A client that saves the cookie before its failed attempts and presents it again gets the pending record back with its counter, and the limit never fires. The replayed record is accepted while its own expiry, pending_ttl seconds from the challenge and 300 by default, has not passed.
Sessions declared with a store are not affected: the pending record and its counter then live server-side.
The attempt limit does not bound guessing of the second factor, which is left to the per-address rate limit the plugin registers on the same path, 30 requests per 60 seconds.
Affected Products
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CVE record
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NVD configurations
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Red Hat packages
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OpenCVE enrichment
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Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).
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Remediation
Vendor Solution
Upgrade to Punk-TOTP 0.05 or later, and add the two columns the count is kept in to the user table (totp_failed and totp_failed_at by default, named by fields).
Vendor Workaround
For deployments that cannot upgrade to 0.05, declare the session keyword with a store, which needs a Punk::Cache backend shared between workers. The cookie then carries only an opaque id and the counter is out of the client's reach.
Tracking
Advisories
Metrics
No CVSS v4.0
Attack Vector Network
Attack Complexity Low
Privileges Required None
Scope Unchanged
Confidentiality Impact High
Integrity Impact High
Availability Impact None
User Interaction None
No CVSS v3.0
No CVSS v2
This CVE is not in the KEV list.
Exploit prediction score: < 1% (0.495% probability within 30 days)
Exploitation none
Automatable yes
Technical Impact total
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| Description | Punk::Plugin::TOTP versions before 0.05 for Perl allow the second-factor attempt limit to be reset by replaying an earlier session cookie because the challenge route counts failures in the session. The POST handler on challenge_path keeps the failure count as tries inside the totp_pending record in the session, raising it on each rejected code and deleting the pending record once it reaches attempts, five by default. Punk::Session carries the session in a signed cookie unless the application declares a store, and keeps no server-side record, so an earlier value of the same session stays valid until the expiry stamped inside it. A client that saves the cookie before its failed attempts and presents it again gets the pending record back with its counter, and the limit never fires. The replayed record is accepted while its own expiry, pending_ttl seconds from the challenge and 300 by default, has not passed. Sessions declared with a store are not affected: the pending record and its counter then live server-side. The attempt limit does not bound guessing of the second factor, which is left to the per-address rate limit the plugin registers on the same path, 30 requests per 60 seconds. | |
| Title | Punk::Plugin::TOTP versions before 0.05 for Perl allow the second-factor attempt limit to be reset by replaying an earlier session cookie because the challenge route counts failures in the session | |
| Weaknesses | CWE-307 CWE-642 |
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Subscriptions
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