CVE-2014-4615 in PyCADF
Summary
by MITRE
The notifier middleware in OpenStack PyCADF 0.5.0 and earlier, Telemetry (Ceilometer) 2013.2 before 2013.2.4 and 2014.x before 2014.1.2, Neutron 2014.x before 2014.1.2 and Juno before Juno-2, and Oslo allows remote authenticated users to obtain X_AUTH_TOKEN values by reading the message queue (v2/meters/http.request).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/28/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-4615 represents a critical information disclosure flaw affecting multiple OpenStack components including PyCADF, Telemetry (Ceilometer), Neutron, and Oslo middleware. This vulnerability specifically impacts versions prior to the mentioned patched releases, creating a persistent security risk across OpenStack deployments that utilize these affected components. The flaw resides in the notifier middleware implementation where authentication tokens are inadvertently exposed through message queue mechanisms, particularly within the v2/meters/http.request endpoint.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from improper handling of authentication tokens within the OpenStack notification system. When authenticated users send requests through the affected components, the system fails to properly sanitize or remove X_AUTH_TOKEN values from the message queue payloads. This occurs during the notification processing phase where the middleware serializes request information including authentication headers into queue messages. The flaw allows remote authenticated attackers to access these serialized tokens by monitoring or reading the message queue contents, effectively compromising the authentication state of legitimate users.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability significantly weakens the security posture of OpenStack environments by enabling attackers to obtain valid authentication tokens that can be used for unauthorized access to cloud resources. The impact extends beyond simple information disclosure as these tokens can be leveraged to perform privileged operations within the cloud infrastructure, potentially leading to complete system compromise. The vulnerability affects the core authentication and authorization mechanisms of OpenStack, undermining the fundamental security model that relies on proper token management and access control.
The attack vector for this vulnerability involves a remote authenticated user who can access the message queue system and read the serialized notification messages containing the X_AUTH_TOKEN values. This aligns with ATT&CK technique T1567.002 for "Exfiltration Over Web Service" and CWE-200 for "Information Exposure". The vulnerability demonstrates poor input validation and output encoding practices in the notification middleware, where sensitive authentication information flows through the system without proper sanitization. Organizations using affected OpenStack versions face significant risk as attackers can exploit this to escalate privileges and gain unauthorized access to cloud resources.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2014-4615 require immediate patching of all affected OpenStack components to the versions that include the security fixes. Administrators should implement network segmentation to restrict access to message queues and employ monitoring solutions to detect unusual queue access patterns. The implementation of proper token management practices, including token rotation and validation, should be enforced across all OpenStack services. Additionally, organizations should conduct comprehensive security assessments to identify any potential exploitation attempts and establish incident response procedures specifically addressing authentication token compromise scenarios. Regular security updates and vulnerability scanning should be maintained to prevent similar issues from emerging in future deployments.