CVE-2014-6414 in Neutron
Summary
by MITRE
OpenStack Neutron before 2014.2.4 and 2014.1 before 2014.1.2 allows remote authenticated users to set admin network attributes to default values via unspecified vectors.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/29/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-6414 represents a critical privilege escalation issue within OpenStack Neutron networking services that affected versions prior to 2014.2.4 and 2014.1.2. This flaw resides in the network attribute management system where authenticated users can manipulate administrative network properties through unspecified attack vectors. The vulnerability specifically enables remote authenticated users to set administrative network attributes to default values, effectively allowing them to bypass normal access controls and potentially gain unauthorized administrative privileges within the networking infrastructure. The flaw demonstrates a significant weakness in the authorization mechanisms of the Neutron service, which is responsible for managing network connectivity and security policies in OpenStack environments.
From a technical perspective, this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and access control enforcement within the Neutron API processing layer. The unspecified vectors suggest that the attack could occur through multiple pathways within the network management interface, potentially involving API calls that should be restricted to administrative users but are instead accessible to authenticated regular users. The ability to set admin network attributes to default values indicates a failure in the privilege separation mechanisms, where user-controllable inputs are not properly sanitized or validated against administrative access levels. This type of vulnerability falls under the CWE-284 access control weakness category, specifically addressing improper access control in network services.
The operational impact of CVE-2014-6414 extends beyond simple privilege escalation, as it can enable attackers to manipulate core network configurations that affect connectivity, security policies, and overall infrastructure integrity. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability could potentially redirect network traffic, modify firewall rules, alter network segmentation policies, or gain visibility into other network resources that should be restricted to administrators only. The default value setting capability particularly poses risks because it can reset critical network configurations that may have been intentionally configured for security purposes, effectively reverting the system to potentially insecure states. This vulnerability directly impacts the principle of least privilege and can compromise the network isolation properties that are fundamental to cloud security architectures.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2014-6414 should prioritize immediate patching of affected OpenStack Neutron installations to versions 2014.2.4 or 2014.1.2 and later, which contain the necessary access control fixes. Organizations should also implement additional monitoring and logging of administrative network attribute changes to detect potential exploitation attempts. Network segmentation and micro-segmentation techniques can help limit the blast radius if an attacker does manage to exploit this vulnerability. The remediation process should include comprehensive access control reviews and validation of all API endpoints to ensure proper authorization checks are in place. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to privilege escalation techniques and can be leveraged by attackers to move laterally within network environments, making it particularly dangerous in multi-tenant cloud deployments where network isolation is critical. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar access control weaknesses in other OpenStack services and components.