CVE-2014-7878 in Helion Cloud Development Platform
Summary
by MITRE
The Application Lifecycle Service (ALS) in HP Helion Cloud Development Platform 1.0, when a virtual machine is derived from the Seed Node image, uses the same security keys across different customers installations, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code by leveraging these keys for a connection.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/04/2022
The vulnerability described in CVE-2014-7878 resides within the Application Lifecycle Service component of HP Helion Cloud Development Platform version 1.0, specifically affecting deployments where virtual machines are created from the Seed Node image. This represents a critical security flaw that fundamentally compromises the isolation and security boundaries between customer environments within a multi-tenant cloud infrastructure. The issue manifests when the platform fails to properly randomize or uniqueify cryptographic keys during the virtual machine provisioning process, creating a scenario where identical security credentials are deployed across multiple customer instances.
The technical implementation flaw stems from inadequate key generation and management practices within the cloud platform's automated provisioning workflows. When virtual machines are derived from the Seed Node image, the system does not adequately randomize or rotate the cryptographic keys used for secure communications and authentication. This results in a predictable credential landscape where attackers can exploit the shared keys to establish unauthorized connections to multiple customer environments. The vulnerability specifically affects the secure key distribution mechanism that should normally provide unique authentication tokens for each customer deployment, instead maintaining a static key configuration across installations.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates a severe risk for multi-tenant cloud environments where customer isolation is paramount. Attackers who discover or gain access to these shared security keys can execute arbitrary code across multiple customer deployments simultaneously, potentially leading to data breaches, service disruption, and unauthorized access to sensitive customer information. The attack vector leverages the inherent trust relationships within the cloud platform, allowing remote exploitation without requiring additional authentication credentials or complex attack chains. This vulnerability essentially undermines the fundamental security model of the platform by providing a single point of compromise that affects multiple customers.
The security implications align with CWE-310, which addresses cryptographic issues such as weak key generation and predictable key usage patterns. This vulnerability also maps to ATT&CK technique T1078 which covers valid accounts and T1566 which covers malicious code injection, as attackers can leverage the shared keys to gain unauthorized access and execute malicious code. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including the generation of unique cryptographic keys for each customer deployment, implementing proper key rotation mechanisms, and ensuring that no static credentials are embedded within base images. Additionally, network segmentation and monitoring controls should be enhanced to detect unauthorized access attempts using compromised credentials, while regular security assessments should validate that key management processes are properly implemented and maintained across all cloud platform components.