CVE-2014-3476 in Keystone
Summary
by MITRE
OpenStack Identity (Keystone) before 2013.2.4, 2014.1 before 2014.1.2, and Juno before Juno-2 does not properly handle chained delegation, which allows remote authenticated users to gain privileges by leveraging a (1) trust or (2) OAuth token with impersonation enabled to create a new token with additional roles.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/22/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-3476 affects OpenStack Identity service known as Keystone, specifically targeting versions prior to 2013.2.4, 2014.1.2, and Juno-2 releases. This security flaw resides in the token delegation mechanism within Keystone, which is a critical component responsible for managing authentication and authorization within OpenStack environments. The vulnerability stems from improper handling of chained delegation scenarios where authentication tokens can be manipulated to escalate privileges through legitimate delegation pathways.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the manipulation of trust relationships and OAuth token handling within Keystone's authentication framework. When a user possesses a trust or OAuth token with impersonation capabilities enabled, the system fails to properly validate the delegation chain, allowing an authenticated attacker to create new tokens that include additional roles not originally granted. This occurs because the system does not adequately enforce the boundaries of delegation relationships, enabling privilege escalation through a series of legitimate token creation operations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant for organizations utilizing OpenStack cloud infrastructures, as it directly compromises the principle of least privilege that is fundamental to cloud security architectures. Attackers can leverage this flaw to escalate their privileges within the cloud environment, potentially gaining access to resources they should not be authorized to access. The vulnerability affects both trust-based delegation and OAuth token mechanisms, making it particularly dangerous as it can be exploited through multiple authentication pathways. This weakness undermines the integrity of the entire Keystone service and can lead to unauthorized access to compute, storage, and network resources within the OpenStack deployment.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including upgrading to patched versions of OpenStack Keystone that address the chained delegation handling issue. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-284, which describes improper access control in software systems, and can be mapped to ATT&CK technique T1078 for valid accounts and T1548 for abuse of privileges. Security configurations should enforce stricter token validation policies and implement additional audit controls to monitor for suspicious delegation activities. Organizations must also review their trust relationships and OAuth configurations to ensure that impersonation capabilities are properly restricted and validated. The remediation process should include comprehensive testing of delegation workflows and implementation of automated monitoring systems to detect potential exploitation attempts.