CWE-760
Use of a One-Way Hash with a Predictable Salt
Extended description
This makes it easier for attackers to pre-compute the hash value using dictionary attack techniques such as rainbow tables, effectively disabling the protection that an unpredictable salt would provide. It should be noted that, despite common perceptions, the use of a good salt with a hash does not sufficiently increase the effort for an attacker who is targeting an individual password, or who has a large amount of computing resources available, such as with cloud-based services or specialized, inexpensive hardware. Offline password cracking can still be effective if the hash function is not expensive to compute; many cryptographic functions are designed to be efficient and can be vulnerable to attacks using massive computing resources, even if the hash is cryptographically strong. The use of a salt only slightly increases the computing requirements for an attacker compared to other strategies such as adaptive hash functions. See CWE-916 for more details.
Common consequences1
- Access ControlBypass Protection Mechanism
Potential mitigations2
- Architecture and DesignHigh
Use an adaptive hash function that can be configured to change the amount of computational effort needed to compute the hash, such as the number of iterations ("stretching") or the amount of memory required. Some hash functions perform salting automatically. These functions can significantly increase the overhead for a brute force attack compared to intentionally-fast functions such as MD5. For example, rainbow table attacks can become infeasible due to the high computing overhead. Finally, since computing power gets faster and cheaper over time, the technique can be reconfigured to increase the workload without forcing an entire replacement of the algorithm in use. Some hash functions that have one or more of these desired properties include bcrypt [REF-291], scrypt [REF-292], and PBKDF2 [REF-293]. While there is active debate about which of these is the most effective, they are all stronger than using salts with hash functions with very little computing overhead. Note that using these functions can have an impact on performance, so they require special consideration to avoid denial-of-service attacks. However, their configurability provides finer control over how much CPU and memory is used, so it could be adjusted to suit the environment's needs.
- ImplementationLimited
If a technique that requires extra computational effort can not be implemented, then for each password that is processed, generate a new random salt using a strong random number generator with unpredictable seeds. Add the salt to the plaintext password before hashing it. When storing the hash, also store the salt. Do not use the same salt for every password.
Relationships1
- ChildOfCWE-916
CVEs referencing this CWE10
| CVE | Description | Severity | EPSS | Flags | Modified |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2021-38314 | The Gutenberg Template Library & Redux Framework plugin <= 4.2.11 for WordPress registered several AJAX actions available to unauthenticated users in the `includes` function in `redux-core/class-redux-core.php` that were unique to a given site but deterministic and predictable given that they were based on an md5 hash of the site URL with a known salt value of '-redux' and an md5 hash of the previous hash with a known salt value of '-support'. These AJAX actions could be used to retrieve a list of active plugins and their versions, the site's PHP version, and an unsalted md5 hash of site’s `AUTH_KEY` concatenated with the `SECURE_AUTH_KEY`. | MEDIUM5.3 | 28%p98 | PoC | 2025-05-05 |
| CVE-2020-28214 | A CWE-760: Use of a One-Way Hash with a Predictable Salt vulnerability exists in Modicon M221 (all references, all versions), that could allow an attacker to pre-compute the hash value using dictionary attack technique such as rainbow tables, effectively disabling the protection that an unpredictable salt would provide. | MEDIUM5.5 | 0.72%p49 | 2026-05-28 | |
| CVE-2024-38881 | An issue in Horizon Business Services Inc. Caterease 16.0.1.1663 through 24.0.1.2405 and possibly later versions, allows a remote attacker to perform a Rainbow Table Password cracking attack due to the use of one-way hashes without salts when storing user passwords. | HIGH7.5 | 0.53%p40 | 2026-02-24 | |
| CVE-2023-22599 | InHand Networks InRouter 302, prior to version IR302 V3.5.56, and InRouter 615, prior to version InRouter6XX-S-V2.3.0.r5542, contain vulnerability CWE-760: Use of a One-way Hash with a Predictable Salt. They send MQTT credentials in response to HTTP/HTTPS requests from the cloud platform. These credentials are encoded using a hardcoded string into an MD5 hash. This string could be easily calculated by an unauthorized user who spoofed sending an HTTP/HTTPS request to the devices. This could result in the affected devices being temporarily disconnected from the cloud platform and allow the user to receive MQTT commands with potentially sensitive information. | CRITICAL9.1 | 0.32%p24 | 2025-01-16 | |
| CVE-2026-9370 | A weakness has been identified in ulisesbocchio jasypt-spring-boot up to 3.0.5/4.0.4. Affected by this vulnerability is the function getSecretKeySaltGenerator of the file jasypt-spring-boot/src/main/java/com/ulisesbocchio/jasyptspringboot/encryptor/SimpleGCMConfig.java of the component Password Hash Handler. Executing a manipulation can lead to use of a one-way hash with a predictable salt. The attack can be launched remotely. The attack requires a high level of complexity. The exploitation appears to be difficult. The exploit has been made available to the public and could be used for attacks. The project was informed of the problem early through an issue report but has not responded yet. | LOW3.7 | 0.24%p15 | 2026-05-29 | |
| CVE-2018-5552 | Versions of DocuTrac QuicDoc and Office Therapy that ship with DTISQLInstaller.exe version 1.6.4.0 and prior contains a hard-coded cryptographic salt, "S@l+&pepper". | NONE | 0.22%p12 | 2024-11-21 | |
| CVE-2025-9290 | An authentication weakness was identified in Omada Controllers, Gateways and Access Points, controller-device adoption due to improper handling of random values. Exploitation requires advanced network positioning and allows an attacker to intercept adoption traffic and forge valid authentication through offline precomputation, potentially exposing sensitive information and compromising confidentiality. | MEDIUM5.9 | 0.20%p10 | 2026-03-16 | |
| CVE-2024-13951 | One way hash with predictable salt vulnerabilities in ASPECT may expose sensitive information to a potential attackerThis issue affects ASPECT-Enterprise: through 3.*; NEXUS Series: through 3.*; MATRIX Series: through 3.*. | HIGH7.6 | 0.17%p6 | 2026-04-15 | |
| CVE-2026-46749 | A vulnerability has been identified in SINEC INS (All versions < V1.0 SP2 Update 6). The affected application uses a password hashing implementation with a static, hardcoded salt shared across all users and installations, and is configured with an insufficient number of iterations. This could allow an attacker to efficiently recover user passwords using brute-force or precomputed attacks, potentially resulting in unauthorized access. | CRITICAL9.8 | 0.12%p2 | 2026-06-12 | |
| CVE-2025-26486 | Broken or Risky Cryptographic Algorithm, Use of Password Hash With Insufficient Computational Effort, Use of Weak Hash, Use of a One-Way Hash with a Predictable Salt vulnerabilities in Beta80 "Life 1st Identity Manager" enable an attacker with access to password hashes to bruteforce user passwords or find a collision to ultimately while attempting to gain access to a target application that uses "Life 1st Identity Manager" as a service for authentication. This issue affects Life 1st: 1.5.2.14234. | MEDIUM6.0 | 0.11%p1 | 2026-04-15 |