CVE-2012-4574 in CloudForms
Summary
by MITRE
Pulp in Red Hat CloudForms before 1.1 uses world-readable permissions for pulp.conf, which allows local users to read the administrative password by reading this file.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/26/2017
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2012-4574 represents a critical misconfiguration issue within the Pulp content management system deployed in Red Hat CloudForms environments prior to version 1.1. This flaw stems from improper file permission settings that expose sensitive administrative credentials to unauthorized local users. The pulp.conf configuration file contains administrative passwords and authentication details necessary for system operation, making its world-readable permissions a significant security risk. The vulnerability specifically affects systems where the Pulp service runs with insufficient privilege separation and access control mechanisms.
This technical flaw falls under the category of improper privilege management and weak file permissions, which aligns with CWE-732 and CWE-276. The issue demonstrates a fundamental failure in the principle of least privilege where sensitive configuration files are accessible to all local users without proper authentication requirements. When local users can read the pulp.conf file, they gain access to administrative passwords that could be used for privilege escalation or unauthorized system modifications. The vulnerability exists because the system does not properly enforce access controls on critical configuration files that contain authentication credentials.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple credential exposure, as it provides attackers with the means to escalate privileges and potentially gain full administrative control over the Pulp service. Local users who can read the pulp.conf file can extract administrative passwords and use them to authenticate as system administrators, undermining the entire security model of the CloudForms platform. This weakness creates a persistent backdoor that remains active until the permissions are corrected, potentially allowing attackers to maintain access even after system restarts or other security measures are implemented.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2012-4574 require immediate implementation of proper file permission controls on the pulp.conf file and similar configuration files containing sensitive information. System administrators should ensure that configuration files containing authentication credentials are only readable by the specific user accounts that require access to them. This aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566 which involves credential access through unauthorized access to system files. The recommended approach includes setting appropriate file permissions using chmod commands to restrict access to the pulp.conf file to the root user or designated administrative accounts only, while ensuring that no other local users can read or modify the file contents. Additionally, organizations should implement regular security audits to verify that sensitive files maintain appropriate access controls and consider implementing automated monitoring systems to detect unauthorized file access attempts.