CVE-2014-0188 in openshift
Summary
by MITRE
The openshift-origin-broker in Red Hat OpenShift Enterprise 2.0.5, 1.2.7, and earlier does not properly handle authentication requests from the remote-user auth plugin, which allows remote attackers to bypass authentication and impersonate arbitrary users via the X-Remote-User header in a request to a passthrough trigger.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/12/2026
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-0188 affects the openshift-origin-broker component within Red Hat OpenShift Enterprise versions 2.0.5 and earlier, as well as version 1.2.7 and prior releases. This authentication flaw stems from improper handling of authentication requests originating from the remote-user auth plugin, creating a significant security weakness that undermines the platform's access control mechanisms. The issue specifically manifests when the system processes requests containing the X-Remote-User header, which is typically used to pass authenticated user information from upstream proxies or load balancers to the application layer.
The technical flaw resides in the broker's insufficient validation and sanitization of the X-Remote-User header values, allowing attackers to inject malicious user identifiers that bypass the normal authentication flow. This vulnerability operates at the application layer authentication boundary where the system should enforce strict validation of user identities before granting access privileges. The flaw essentially creates a path for unauthorized users to impersonate legitimate users by manipulating HTTP headers that the system treats as authoritative authentication tokens. This represents a classic case of improper input validation and authentication bypass, aligning with CWE-287 which addresses improper authentication vulnerabilities.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe as it enables remote attackers to gain unauthorized access to user accounts and system resources without proper credentials. An attacker could potentially impersonate any user within the system, including administrative accounts, leading to data breaches, privilege escalation, and unauthorized modifications to application configurations or user data. The vulnerability affects the passthrough trigger functionality, which is commonly used for handling requests that require direct forwarding to backend applications without intermediate processing, making it particularly dangerous in environments where such triggers are frequently used. This authentication bypass could result in complete compromise of user sessions and potential lateral movement within the OpenShift environment.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability include immediate patching of the affected OpenShift Enterprise versions to the latest available releases that contain the necessary security fixes. Organizations should also implement network-level controls to restrict access to the broker endpoints and monitor for suspicious X-Remote-User header values in application logs. Additionally, administrators should configure proper header validation and sanitization at the reverse proxy or load balancer level to prevent malicious headers from reaching the broker component. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this vulnerability under privilege escalation and credential access techniques, specifically targeting the T1078 credential access sub-technique. Organizations should also consider implementing multi-factor authentication mechanisms and regular security audits to detect and prevent exploitation attempts of similar authentication bypass vulnerabilities.