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Low

matrix-synapse vulnerable to temporary storage of plaintext passwords during password changes

  • Disclosed: 26.09.2023
  • Updated: 11.10.2026 15:17

Impact

When users update their passwords, the new credentials may be briefly held in the server database. While this doesn't grant the server any added capabilities—it already learns the users' passwords as part of the authentication process—it does disrupt the expectation that passwords won't be stored in the database. As a result, these passwords could inadvertently be captured in database backups for a longer duration.

These temporarily stored passwords are automatically erased after a 48-hour window.

Patches

https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/pull/16272

References

This bug was due to a regression in https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/pull/13188.

Affected software

Click a technology to see all vulnerabilities affecting it.

PlatformPackageVulnerable versionsFixed in
Python (PyPI) matrix-synapse >= 1.66.0, < 1.93.0 1.93.0

References

CVSS score 3.7/10
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
Weakness (CWE)
CWE-312
Platform
Python (PyPI)
Package
matrix-synapse
Disclosed
26.09.2023
Updated
11.10.2026 15:17

Sources and licenses

OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - PYSEC-2023-185 - PyPA Advisory Database; CC BY 4.0

OSV / GitHub Advisory Database - GHSA-4f74-84v3-j9q5 - CC BY 4.0

Vulnerability history: matrix-synapse

All published vulnerabilities of this package (Python (PyPI)), newest first. Shows whether this is a one-off slip or a package that needs watching.

All (45) in the archive
Total entries
45
First → latest
03.2019 05.2026
Without a fix
0
Exploited in attacks
0

Severity breakdown

  • High 21
  • Medium 21
  • Low 3

Disclosures per year

Severity:
  1. Synapse CPU starvation (Denial of Service)
    High · 5.5 CVE-2026-45078 < 1.152.1 1.152.1
  2. Synapse vulnerable to federation denial of service via malformed events
    High · 7.1 CVE-2025-30355 < 1.127.1 1.127.1
  3. Synapse can be forced to thumbnail unexpected file formats, invoking external, potentially untrustworthy decoders
    High CVE-2024-53863 < 1.120.1 1.120.1
  4. Synapse allows a a malformed invite to break the invitee's `/sync`
    High CVE-2024-52815 < 1.120.1 1.120.1
  5. Synapse allows unsupported content types to lead to memory exhaustion
    High CVE-2024-52805 < 1.120.1 1.120.1
  6. Synapse denial of service through media disk space consumption
    High · 7.5 CVE-2024-37302 < 1.106 1.106
  7. matrix-synapse vulnerable to temporary storage of plaintext passwords during password changes this entry
    Low · 3.7 CVE-2023-41335 >= 1.66.0, < 1.93.0 1.93.0
  8. Synapse Denial of service due to incorrect application of event authorization rules during state resolution
    High · 6.5 CVE-2022-39374 >= 1.62.0, < 1.68.0rc1 1.68.0rc1
  9. Synapse does not apply enough checks to servers requesting auth events of events in a room
    High · 5.0 CVE-2022-39335 < 1.69.0 1.69.0
  10. Denial of service due to incorrect application of event authorization rules
    High · 7.5 CVE-2022-31152 < 1.62.0rc1 1.62.0rc1
  11. URL previews of unusual or maliciously-crafted pages can crash Synapse media repositories or Synapse monoliths
    High · 6.5 CVE-2022-31052 < 1.61.1 1.61.1
  12. Matrix Synapse DoS
    High · 7.5 CVE-2018-10657 < 0.28.1 0.28.1
  13. Matrix Synapse Improper Signature Validation
    High · 8.8 CVE-2018-16515 >= 0.33.3, < 0.33.3.1, < 0.33.2.1 0.33.3.1, 0.33.2.1
  14. Matrix Synapse Authorization Error
    High · 7.5 CVE-2018-12423 < 0.31.2 0.31.2
  15. Matrix Synapse Security Filtering Flaw
    High · 7.5 CVE-2018-12291 < 0.31.1 0.31.1
  16. Path traversal in Matrix Synapse
    High · 7.5 CVE-2021-41281 < 1.47.1 1.47.1
  17. Open redirect via transitional IPv6 addresses on dual-stack networks
    High · 6.3 CVE-2021-21392 < 1.28.0rc1 1.28.0rc1
  18. Denial of service attack via incorrect parameters in Matrix Synapse
    High · 6.5 CVE-2020-26257 < 1.23.1 1.23.1
  19. Denial of service attack due to invalid JSON
    High · 7.5 CVE-2020-26890 < 1.20.0 1.20.0
  20. Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature in matrix-synapse
    High · 8.6 CVE-2019-18835 < 1.5.0 1.5.0
  21. matrix-sydent and matrix-synapse Use Cryptographically Weak PRNG
    High · 7.5 CVE-2019-11842 < 0.99.3.1 0.99.3.1
  22. Matrix Synapse before 0.34.0.1, when the macaroon_secret_key authentication parameter is not set, uses a predictable value to derive a secret key and other secrets which could allow remote attackers t
    High · 7.5 CVE-2019-5885 < 0.34.0.1 0.34.0.1

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