Home/CVE/Opencast before 8.1 stores passwords using the rather outdated and cryptographically insecure MD5 hash algorithm. Furthe
CVE

CVE-2020-52291

Opencast before 8.1 stores passwords using the rather outdated and cryptographically insecure MD5 hash algorithm. Furthe

Opencast before 8.1 stores passwords using the rather outdated and cryptographically insecure MD5 hash algorithm. Furthermore, the hashes are salted using the username instead of a random salt, causing hashes for users with the same username and password to collide which is problematic especially for popular users like the default admin user. This essentially means that for an attacker, it might be feasible to reconstruct a user's password given access to these hashes.

Note that attackers needing access to the hashes means that they must gain access to the database in which these are stored first to be able to start cracking the passwords. The problem is addressed in Opencast 8.1 which now uses the modern and much stronger bcrypt password hashing algorithm for storing passwords. Note, that old hashes remain MD5 until the password is updated.

For a list of users whose password hashes are stored using MD5, take a look at the /user-utils/users/md5.json REST endpoint.

HIGH · CVSS 7.7 EPSS 0.00626
EPSS exploitation odds0.63% · top 54%
Act now
  • Public exploit or PoC is available
  • CVSS base score ≥ 7.0
Look this up elsewhere - one-click external pivots
How to read a CVE - triage first, then detect and patch
This page is every public fact about CVE-2020-5229, cross-linked. Its job is to answer one question fast - does this need my attention now? - and then hand you the two things you do about it. Here is how an analyst reads it.
Triage: should I act now? Four signals, and they are not interchangeable:
CVSSseverity - how bad it is IF exploited, 0-10. A high CVSS alone is not urgency; a flaw can be a perfect 10 and never actually be attacked. EPSSprobability - a model’s estimate of the chance it is exploited in the next 30 days, 0-1. This is the “will it actually happen” signal. CISA KEVconfirmed - it is being exploited in the wild right now. The strongest signal on the page; KEV beats any score. Weaponisedavailability - public exploits / PoCs, and especially Metasploit modules rated Excellent / Great. Reliable, packaged exploit code means low-skill attackers can use it today.
How they combine: KEV, or a dependable Metasploit module, means patch now regardless of CVSS. High CVSS + low EPSS + no exploit is real but not an emergency - schedule it. Low CVSS but KEV-listed still gets patched now. The verdict above already weighed these for you; this is how it got there.
Then what - two workflows:
Detectwhen you cannot patch today, follow this CVE to the ATT&CK techniques it enables, then Build a SIEM detection (the green button) - author a rule, test it in Atomic, deploy it. That buys visibility while the patch waits. PatchAffected products / packages tell you if you are exposed; Fixed versions by distribution and Vendor advisories give the exact version that closes it.
Reading order for the panels below: verdict + badges, then Public exploits / Metasploit (is it weaponised), then ATT&CK techniques + Sigma / IDS rules (can I detect it), then Affected products / packages + Fixed versions (am I exposed, what patches it), then Threat actors / IOCs (who uses it), then Scoring & timeline / references (the evidence).

Exploitation evidence

1 of 7 sources
Corroboration score 8/100 · emerging. This counts how many independent sources have exploitation evidence, and separates two different things: confirmed in-the-wild use (CISA KEV, Microsoft MSRC, ransomware activity) from exploit / PoC availability (Metasploit, ExploitDB, Nuclei, public PoCs). A template or PoC existing means an attack is possible and easy - it is not, on its own, proof the CVE is being exploited in the wild.
Exploit / PoC available
public PoC

Exploitation momentum

16 days of EPSS
dormant
Flat and low - no real exploitation pressure. This reads the direction and speed of EPSS over time, which can move before EPSS itself peaks or before CISA lists it.
Window

Severity & exploitation scoring

View on NVD →
CVSS base score
7.7
HIGHCVSS v3.1 · [email protected]
EPSS exploitation probability
0.63%
Top 54%odds of exploitation in the next 30 days
CVSS metric silhouette
VectorComplexityPrivilegesInteractionScopeConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
shape grows toward worst-case
SSVC triage
No SSVC vulnrichment for this CVE. CISA's Vulnrichment program scores newer CVEs (~2024 onwards) plus selected older critical ones. Use the EPSS probability + KEV status to triage instead.
CVSS vector breakdown
Exploitability - how they get in
Attack Vector
Network Adjacent Local Physical
Attack Complexity
Low High
Privileges Required
None Low High
User Interaction
None Required
Scope
Unchanged Changed
Impact - what breaks
Confidentiality
None Low High
Integrity
None Low High
Availability
None Low High
VECTORCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N
Lifecycle
  1. 30 Jan 2020Published to NVD
  2. 17 Jun 2026Last modified
Every entry is a recorded date - NVD publish/modify, CISA KEV add, public exploit disclosure. No inferred events.
Attack path
Full kill chain

Public Exploits & PoCs

1
These PoC and exploit links come from public sources and are not verified to be safe or functional. Review the code before running anything, and treat unverified entries as untrusted. Signed-in users mark whether it works, rate 1-10, and can report malware with a required reason that becomes a public comment.
poc shadawck/scabi (trickest) date unknown
Vote & rate
Report or claim
⚠ Report this PoC

Becomes a public comment attributed as First L. (never full last name). Don't include private info. Rate-limited: 5/hour.

Works? no reports yet
Rating -

ATT&CK techniques

1

Techniques this CVE enables. Pills with a solid outline are high confidence - named directly in ATT&CK or Nuclei, or human-curated by CTID; the rest are inferred from the weakness type using MITRE's CVE Mapping Methodology and the CWE → CAPEC chain. Broad, generic-weakness guesses are filtered out. A small marks a technique that N independent sources agree on.

▤ Build a SIEM detection for these techniques

Affected Products & Versions

1

Affected Packages

1
Language-ecosystem packages (from OSV) tied to this CVE, with the version that fixes it - the dependency-level detail NVD doesn’t carry.
Maven org.opencastproject:opencast-common-jpa-impl LOW fixed in 7.6
🔗

References & Sources

2
Source URLs (vendor pages, mailing lists, write-ups). Exploit/PoC links are in their own section above to avoid duplication.