title: Apache CouchDB, IBM Cloudant: Privilege Escalation Using _design Documents
description: Design document functions which receive a user http request object may expose authorization or session cookie headers of the user who accesses the document.
These design document functions are:
*    list
*    show
*    rewrite
*    update
An attacker can leak the session component using an HTML-like output, insert the session as an external resource (such as an image), or store the credential in a _local document with an "update" function.
For the attack to succeed the attacker has to be able to insert the design documents into the database, then manipulate a user to access a function from that design document.
Workaround: Avoid using design documents from untrusted sources which may attempt to access or manipulate request object's headers
problem types: CWE-200 Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor
affected:
{
defaultStatus: affected
product: Apache CouchDB
vendor: Apache Software Foundation
versions:
lessThanOrEqual: 3.3.2, status: affected, version: 0, versionType: semver
}
{
defaultStatus: unaffected
product: IBM Cloudant
vendor: Apache Software Foundation
versions:
lessThan: 8413, status: affected, version: 0, versionType: semver
}
metrics:
other: [
content: {'text': 'moderate'}
type: Textual description of severity
]