CVE-2013-2256 in Havana
Summary
by MITRE
OpenStack Compute (Nova) before 2013.1.3 and Havana before havana-2 does not properly enforce the os-flavor-access:is_public property, which allows remote authenticated users to obtain sensitive information (flavor properties), boot arbitrary flavors, and possibly have other unspecified impacts by guessing the flavor id.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/07/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2013-2256 represents a critical access control flaw within OpenStack Compute (Nova) infrastructure that affected versions prior to 2013.1.3 and Havana release havana-2. This issue stems from inadequate enforcement of the os-flavor-access:is_public property, creating a significant security gap that undermines the integrity of cloud computing environments. The flaw specifically targets the flavor access control mechanisms that govern how virtual machine configurations are distributed and accessed within OpenStack deployments.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability allows authenticated attackers to bypass intended access restrictions through a simple guessing mechanism targeting flavor identifiers. Flavors in OpenStack represent predefined configurations for virtual machines including CPU, memory, and storage specifications, making them critical components for cloud resource allocation. The vulnerability occurs because the system fails to properly validate whether a user has legitimate access rights to a specific flavor before exposing its properties or allowing instantiation. This misconfiguration enables attackers to enumerate flavor identifiers through systematic guessing, effectively circumventing the intended access controls that should restrict flavor visibility and usage.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability creates multiple attack vectors that can significantly impact cloud security posture and data integrity. Remote authenticated users can obtain sensitive flavor properties that may contain information about system configurations, resource allocation patterns, and potentially reveal organizational infrastructure details. The ability to boot arbitrary flavors means attackers can potentially consume unauthorized computing resources, disrupt service availability, or create denial-of-service conditions. The unspecified impacts mentioned in the vulnerability description suggest that this flaw may enable additional attack vectors beyond the immediate information disclosure and unauthorized resource consumption.
The security implications extend beyond immediate exploitation to encompass broader cloud infrastructure risks. This vulnerability directly violates the principle of least privilege and proper access control enforcement, creating opportunities for privilege escalation and unauthorized system manipulation. Organizations using affected OpenStack versions face potential exposure of confidential system information, unauthorized resource consumption leading to financial losses, and possible compromise of other cloud services through the exploitation of this access control flaw.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2013-2256 involve immediate deployment of patched OpenStack Compute versions that properly enforce the os-flavor-access:is_public property. System administrators should implement comprehensive access control reviews to ensure that flavor access policies are correctly configured and validated. The remediation process requires updating to Nova versions 2013.1.3 or later, or Havana releases havana-2 and subsequent versions that contain the necessary security patches. Additionally, organizations should conduct thorough security audits of their cloud environments to identify any unauthorized flavor access patterns and implement monitoring controls to detect potential exploitation attempts. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-284, which addresses improper access control, and represents a clear violation of the ATT&CK technique T1078 for valid accounts and privilege escalation through unauthorized resource access.