darkly/weak_cookie_auth/README.md

Weak auth via cookie

How We Found It

On all the pages, if we have no cookies, the website gives us a cookie. the cookie is called i_am_admin and has this value :

68934a3e9455fa72420237eb05902327

That look like a md5 hash. what if I decrypt it.
this is a hash of false.
what if I hash true and set it as the cookie.
when I do this. on all pages, there is an alert that gives me the flag

Utility of It

• Allows an attacker to forge an admin session by reverse-engineering or guessing cookie values.
• No need to log in or brute-force credentials — just manipulate a hash.
• Can lead to privilege escalation, access to admin features, or flag retrieval in CTFs.

How Can We Patch It

• Never rely on easily reversible or guessable values (like md5("true")) for auth.
• Use secure session tokens, randomly generated and validated server-side.
• Store roles (like admin/user) in a server-side session — not in a modifiable cookie.
• Avoid using MD5 for any security-related checks; it's outdated and weak.
• Sign cookies with a HMAC or encrypt them if you must store data client-side.