CVE-2018-1999034 in Inedo ProGet Plugin
Summary
by MITRE
A man in the middle vulnerability exists in Jenkins Inedo ProGet Plugin 0.8 and earlier in ProGetApi.java, ProGetConfig.java, ProGetConfiguration.java that allows attackers to impersonate any service that Jenkins connects to.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/12/2020
This vulnerability represents a critical man-in-the-middle attack vector within the Jenkins Inedo ProGet plugin ecosystem, specifically affecting versions 0.8 and earlier. The flaw resides in three core Java files including ProGetApi.java, ProGetConfig.java, and ProGetConfiguration.java, which together form the communication layer between Jenkins and ProGet package repositories. The vulnerability stems from insufficient SSL/TLS certificate validation mechanisms that allow attackers to intercept and manipulate communications between Jenkins and remote package repositories without proper authentication or encryption verification.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability exploits weak cryptographic practices by failing to validate server certificates during HTTPS connections to ProGet repositories. Attackers can leverage this weakness to perform SSL stripping attacks or present fraudulent certificates that Jenkins will accept without proper validation. This creates a scenario where malicious actors can impersonate legitimate package repositories and potentially inject malicious packages into the build pipeline, compromising the integrity of software artifacts. The vulnerability directly maps to CWE-295 which addresses improper certificate validation and CWE-310 which covers cryptographic issues related to key management and certificate validation.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability poses significant risks to software supply chain security within Jenkins environments. Organizations utilizing the ProGet plugin for package management face potential compromise of their build processes, as attackers could substitute legitimate packages with malicious versions containing backdoors, malware, or other security threats. The impact extends beyond immediate code corruption to include potential credential theft, data exfiltration, and disruption of continuous integration workflows. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1583.001 which involves creating or modifying infrastructure for malicious purposes, and T1071.004 which covers application layer protocol manipulation.
The mitigation strategies should focus on immediate version upgrades to ProGet plugin versions that address certificate validation issues, implementing strict certificate pinning mechanisms, and establishing network-level monitoring to detect unusual certificate validation patterns. Organizations should also consider implementing additional security controls such as package signature verification, network segmentation, and regular security audits of their Jenkins configurations. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper cryptographic implementation in CI/CD pipelines and highlights the need for comprehensive security testing of third-party plugins that handle sensitive communications.