CVE-2017-7510 in ovirt-engine
Summary
by MITRE
In ovirt-engine 4.1, if a host was provisioned with cloud-init, the root password could be revealed through the REST interface.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/19/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-7510 affects the ovirt-engine version 4.1 platform, which is a comprehensive virtualization management solution used in enterprise environments. This issue specifically relates to the handling of cloud-init provisioned hosts within the oVirt ecosystem, where cloud-init is a standard tool for initializing cloud instances and configuring system parameters during the first boot process. The vulnerability represents a critical information disclosure flaw that directly impacts the security posture of virtualized environments relying on this management platform.
The technical flaw manifests in the REST API interface of ovirt-engine 4.1, where sensitive information including root passwords is improperly exposed when hosts are provisioned with cloud-init configurations. This occurs due to inadequate access controls and data sanitization within the API response handling mechanisms. When cloud-init is used to provision hosts, it typically includes configuration data that may contain authentication credentials or other sensitive parameters. The vulnerability arises because the REST interface fails to properly filter or redact this sensitive information before returning it to requesting clients, allowing unauthorized users with appropriate access permissions to retrieve root passwords through API calls.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant for organizations using oVirt-engine 4.1, as it creates a direct pathway for credential exposure that could lead to unauthorized system access and potential lateral movement within virtualized environments. Attackers who can make authenticated API requests to the ovirt-engine REST interface could extract root passwords and other sensitive credentials from provisioned hosts, potentially compromising the entire virtual infrastructure. This vulnerability directly maps to CWE-200, which describes improper exposure of sensitive information, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1552.001 for credentials in files and T1552.006 for credentials in registry values, though in this case the exposure occurs through API rather than file system access. The flaw essentially undermines the principle of least privilege by allowing sensitive credential information to be retrieved without proper authorization controls.
Organizations should immediately implement mitigations including updating to patched versions of ovirt-engine, implementing strict API access controls and monitoring, and ensuring that cloud-init configurations are properly sanitized before being processed by the management platform. The vulnerability highlights the importance of proper input validation and output sanitization in REST APIs, particularly when handling configuration data that may contain sensitive information. Security teams should also conduct comprehensive audits of their virtualization management interfaces to identify similar information disclosure vulnerabilities and ensure that all API responses properly filter out sensitive data. This incident underscores the critical need for security testing of management interfaces in virtualization platforms and the importance of following secure coding practices that prevent sensitive information leakage through API endpoints.