How I Discovered an Account Takeover from a Reset Password Vulnerability
Vulnerabilities related to password management are both common and impactful. They offer a window of opportunity for attackers to hijack accounts and gain unauthorized access. Today, I’m going to walk you through one of my experiences where I identified an account takeover vulnerability through the reset password functionality.
The Context
During a routine security assessment of a web application, I focused on testing the password reset feature — a crucial entry point that many attackers target. The aim was to ensure that users could securely reset their passwords without leaving the application exposed to potential exploits.
Initial Exploration: Reset Password Flow
Like many other applications, the password reset process involved the following steps:
- User submits their email for resetting the password.
- The system sends a reset password link to the provided email address.
- The user clicks on the link and is redirected to a page where they can set a new password.
The overall flow seemed straightforward, but there was one crucial point I wanted to dig deeper into — the reset password token.
