CVE-2023-51437: Apache Pulsar: Timing attack in SASL token signature verification

[Michael Marshall <mmarshall () apache org>]

Affected versions:

- Apache Pulsar through 2.10.5
- Apache Pulsar 2.11.0 through 2.11.2
- Apache Pulsar 3.0.0 through 3.0.1
- Apache Pulsar 3.1.0

Description:

Observable timing discrepancy vulnerability in Apache Pulsar SASL Authentication Provider can allow an attacker to 
forge a SASL Role Token that will pass signature verification.
Users are recommended to upgrade to version 2.11.3, 3.0.2, or 3.1.1 which fixes the issue. Users should also consider 
updating the configured secret in the `saslJaasServerRoleTokenSignerSecretPath` file.

Any component matching an above version running the SASL Authentication Provider is affected. That includes the Pulsar 
Broker, Proxy, Websocket Proxy, or Function Worker.

2.11 Pulsar users should upgrade to at least 2.11.3.
3.0 Pulsar users should upgrade to at least 3.0.2.
3.1 Pulsar users should upgrade to at least 3.1.1.
Any users running Pulsar 2.8, 2.9, 2.10, and earlier should upgrade to one of the above patched versions.

For additional details on this attack vector, please refer to  https://codahale.com/a-lesson-in-timing-attacks/ .

Credit:

Yiheng Cao (finder)
Chenhao Lu  (finder)
Kaifeng Huang (finder)

References:

https://pulsar.apache.org/
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-51437