CyberRota Analysis
AI-GeneratedThe vulnerability in OpenWA allows unauthorized access to the session QR code via the /events WebSocket gateway, enabling a VIEWER API key holder to link an external device to the WhatsApp account and potentially read and send messages without proper oversight. This poses a significant risk to user privacy and data integrity, particularly for organizations relying on OpenWA for communication. Users of versions prior to 0.23.5 should prioritize upgrading to mitigate this high-severity issue.
Public Exploit Signal
A public exploit, PoC, GitHub repository or Metasploit reference was detected for this CVE.
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Original NVD Description
OpenWA is a free, open source, self-hosted WhatsApp API gateway. Prior to 0.23.5, the /events WebSocket gateway delivers the session.qr event to a VIEWER API key that subscribes by event name or through either wildcard subscription form, even though GET /api/sessions/{sessionId}/qr requires the OPERATOR role. When an allowed session is waiting to be paired, the exposed QR lets the key holder link an external device to the WhatsApp account and then read and send messages outside OpenWA and its audit trail. Keys restricted through allowedSessions remain limited to those sessions, and deployments that issue only OPERATOR or ADMIN keys are not affected. This issue is fixed in version 0.23.5.