Answer in brief
CVE-2020-5229 records a High severity (CVSS 7.7) vulnerability in Password Hashing: Do not use MD5. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. The current feed maps org.opencastproject:opencast-common-jpa-impl (maven), org.opencastproject:opencast-common-jpa-impl (maven). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.
Analysis pending evidence review
HOL Guard separates source facts from reviewed analysis. See the methodology.
CVSS is 7.7. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. Treat this as a source-backed prioritization signal, not a statement about your environment.
Analysis status
Analysis pending evidence review
Factual feed record only; HOL analysis is not approved for indexing. Read the methodology.
The current feed maps org.opencastproject:opencast-common-jpa-impl (maven), org.opencastproject:opencast-common-jpa-impl (maven). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.
| Package | Affected range | Fixed version |
|---|---|---|
| org.opencastproject:opencast-common-jpa-implmaven | >=0 <7.6 | 7.6 |
| org.opencastproject:opencast-common-jpa-implmaven | >=8.0 <8.1 | 8.1 |
Published upstream
Jan 30, 2020
Evidence: source:osv:source_dates:source-dates:recordSource modified
Sep 10, 2026
Evidence: source:osv:source_dates:source-dates:recordFirst seen by HOL
Aug 7, 2026
### Impact User passwords are stored in the database using the rather outdated and cryptographically insecure MD5 hash algorithm.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. ### Patches 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. ### Workarounds There is no workaround. ### References - [MD5 (Wikipedia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MD5) - [bcrypt (Wikipedia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bcrypt) - [How weak is MD5 as a password hashing function?](https://security.stackexchange.com/q/52461) ### For more information If you have any questions or comments about this advisory: - Open an issue in [opencast/opencast](https://github.com/opencast/opencast/issues) - For security-relevant information, email us at [email protected]
Quoted source text, attributed separately from HOL analysis.