CVE-2010-2496 in pacemaker
Summary
by MITRE • 10/18/2021
stonith-ng in pacemaker and cluster-glue passed passwords as commandline parameters, making it possible for local attackers to gain access to passwords of the HA stack and potentially influence its operations. This is fixed in cluster-glue 1.0.6 and newer, and pacemaker 1.1.3 and newer.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/22/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2010-2496 represents a critical security flaw in the High Availability (HA) clustering infrastructure components of Linux systems. This issue affects stonith-ng, which serves as a crucial component within the pacemaker and cluster-glue frameworks, responsible for ensuring system availability by safely shutting down failed nodes to prevent data corruption. The vulnerability stems from the insecure handling of authentication credentials within the command-line interface of these clustering utilities, creating a significant attack surface that could be exploited by malicious actors within the system.
The technical flaw manifests when stonith-ng passes password credentials directly as command-line parameters during cluster operations. This practice violates fundamental security principles by exposing sensitive authentication information in process lists and command histories, making it visible to any local user with access to the system. The command-line interface approach creates a direct exposure point where password values become part of the process arguments, allowing attackers to enumerate running processes and extract authentication credentials through simple system calls or process inspection utilities. This vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it operates at the system level where local users typically have elevated privileges, and the extracted credentials could provide access to the entire HA cluster management infrastructure.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple credential theft, potentially enabling attackers to compromise the entire High Availability environment. Once an attacker gains access to the cluster passwords, they could manipulate cluster operations by injecting malicious commands, disrupting service availability, or even escalating privileges within the cluster. The attack surface becomes particularly dangerous when considering that cluster administrators often use these tools to manage critical infrastructure components, making the compromise of authentication credentials equivalent to gaining control over the entire HA stack. This vulnerability directly relates to CWE-255 Credentials Management Issues and aligns with ATT&CK techniques focusing on credential access and privilege escalation within system environments.
The remediation for this vulnerability requires updating to patched versions of both cluster-glue and pacemaker components, specifically versions 1.0.6 and newer for cluster-glue and 1.1.3 and newer for pacemaker. These updates implement proper credential handling mechanisms that eliminate the exposure of passwords through command-line arguments, typically through the use of secure configuration files or environment variables instead. System administrators should immediately assess their current cluster configurations and implement the necessary updates to prevent exploitation. Additionally, organizations should conduct thorough security audits of their HA infrastructure to identify any other instances where sensitive credentials might be exposed through similar command-line practices, ensuring comprehensive protection against this class of vulnerability that could be exploited through local privilege escalation attacks.