CVE-2014-2828 in Keystone
Summary
by MITRE
The V3 API in OpenStack Identity (Keystone) 2013.1 before 2013.2.4 and icehouse before icehouse-rc2 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) via a large number of the same authentication method in a request, aka "authentication chaining."
Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/10/2026
The vulnerability described in CVE-2014-2828 represents a significant denial of service weakness within the OpenStack Identity service known as Keystone. This flaw specifically affects the V3 API implementation in Keystone versions prior to 2013.2.4 and icehouse-rc2 releases, creating a scenario where malicious actors can exploit the authentication mechanism to consume excessive CPU resources. The vulnerability stems from the system's inadequate handling of repeated authentication requests using identical methods, allowing attackers to flood the system with repetitive authentication attempts that can overwhelm processing capabilities. This issue directly impacts the availability of the Keystone service, which serves as a critical component for identity management and access control within OpenStack environments, making it a high-priority concern for cloud infrastructure security.
The technical mechanism behind this vulnerability involves the authentication chaining attack pattern where an attacker submits multiple requests containing the same authentication method, typically through the V3 API endpoint. The system fails to properly rate-limit or detect these repetitive authentication attempts, causing it to process each identical request through the full authentication pipeline multiple times. This results in exponential CPU consumption as the system continuously validates the same authentication parameters without proper deduplication or request limiting mechanisms. The flaw operates at the application layer and specifically targets the authentication processing logic within Keystone's V3 API implementation, creating a resource exhaustion condition that can effectively render the service unavailable to legitimate users. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-400, which categorizes improper resource management and denial of service conditions, and represents a classic example of an authentication-based DoS attack that can be executed remotely without requiring privileged access.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple service disruption to potentially compromise the entire OpenStack cloud infrastructure. When exploited, the authentication chaining attack can cause significant performance degradation or complete service unavailability, affecting all users attempting to authenticate against the compromised Keystone service. This disruption can cascade through dependent services that rely on Keystone for identity verification, creating widespread availability issues within the cloud environment. Organizations using affected OpenStack versions may experience extended downtime, service interruptions, and potential business impact due to the inability to authenticate users or access cloud resources. The vulnerability particularly affects cloud providers and enterprises that depend heavily on automated authentication processes, as the attack can be executed programmatically and scaled to maximize resource consumption. From an attack methodology perspective, this vulnerability maps to ATT&CK technique T1499.004, which covers network denial of service attacks, and T1566.002, covering spearphishing via social media, as attackers may leverage automated tools to execute these resource exhaustion attacks.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2014-2828 primarily involve upgrading to patched versions of OpenStack Keystone where the authentication chaining vulnerability has been addressed. Organizations should implement proper rate limiting and request validation mechanisms to prevent excessive authentication attempts from consuming system resources. The solution requires configuring authentication services to detect and reject duplicate authentication requests within a specified timeframe, implementing proper session management, and establishing appropriate thresholds for authentication attempts per user or IP address. Security teams should also deploy monitoring solutions to detect unusual authentication patterns and establish automated alerts for potential DoS attack indicators. Additionally, network-level protections such as firewalls and intrusion detection systems can be configured to limit the number of authentication requests from individual sources. The fix typically involves implementing circuit breaker patterns and request throttling mechanisms within the Keystone authentication pipeline, ensuring that identical authentication methods are properly handled without causing resource exhaustion. Organizations should also consider implementing authentication auditing and logging to track suspicious patterns and maintain compliance with security standards such as those outlined in NIST SP 800-53 for cloud security controls.