CVE-2013-2275 in Puppet
Summary
by MITRE
The default configuration for puppet masters 0.25.0 and later in Puppet before 2.6.18, 2.7.x before 2.7.21, and 3.1.x before 3.1.1, and Puppet Enterprise before 1.2.7 and 2.7.x before 2.7.2, allows remote authenticated nodes to submit reports for other nodes via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/01/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2013-2275 represents a significant privilege escalation issue within the puppet configuration management system that affects multiple versions of both open source puppet and puppet enterprise installations. This flaw exists in the default configuration settings of puppet masters running versions 0.25.0 and later, creating a scenario where authenticated nodes can manipulate the reporting mechanism to submit false reports for other nodes within the infrastructure. The vulnerability stems from insufficient access controls and validation mechanisms within the puppet master's report handling functionality, allowing malicious or compromised nodes to exploit the system's trust model.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the manipulation of report submission processes where authenticated nodes can leverage unspecified vectors to forge or redirect reports intended for other nodes in the puppet infrastructure. This misconfiguration allows an attacker with access to any authenticated node to potentially submit malicious reports that appear to originate from different nodes, thereby compromising the integrity of the configuration management data. The flaw operates at the application level within the puppet master's reporting subsystem, where proper authentication and authorization checks fail to validate the legitimacy of report submissions against the actual node identities.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data integrity concerns to potentially enable more sophisticated attacks within the puppet infrastructure. An attacker could use this capability to manipulate configuration reports, obscure legitimate node activities, or even create false security alerts that might mislead administrators about the actual state of their infrastructure. This vulnerability particularly affects environments where puppet is used for critical configuration management and compliance monitoring, as it undermines the trustworthiness of the reporting system that organizations rely upon for operational visibility and security auditing. The attack vector specifically targets the trust relationship between nodes and the puppet master, exploiting the assumption that authenticated nodes can only submit reports for themselves.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including updating to patched versions of puppet that address the report validation issues, configuring proper access controls on puppet master servers, and implementing network segmentation to limit node-to-master communication. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 Access Control Issues and represents a specific instance of improper privilege management within configuration management systems. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to privilege escalation techniques and can be leveraged for lateral movement within environments where puppet is used for infrastructure management. The recommended remediation strategy includes applying version-specific patches, conducting thorough security audits of puppet master configurations, and implementing monitoring solutions that can detect anomalous report submission patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts.