CVE-2019-10445 in Google Kubernetes Engine Plugin
Summary
by MITRE
A missing permission check in Jenkins Google Kubernetes Engine Plugin 0.7.0 and earlier allowed attackers with Overall/Read permission to obtain limited information about the scope of a credential with an attacker-specified credentials ID.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/16/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-10445 resides within the Jenkins Google Kubernetes Engine Plugin version 0.7.0 and earlier, representing a critical permission escalation flaw that undermines the security model of the Jenkins continuous integration platform. This issue specifically targets the plugin's handling of credential scope information, creating an unauthorized information disclosure scenario that can be exploited by malicious actors with relatively limited privileges.
The technical flaw manifests as a missing permission check within the plugin's credential validation mechanism, where the system fails to properly verify whether an authenticated user possesses sufficient privileges to access specific credential scope details. This oversight allows attackers who have only Overall/Read permission to extract limited information about credential scopes associated with attacker-specified credential IDs. The vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and access control enforcement within the plugin's API endpoints that handle credential metadata retrieval.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability creates a significant risk for Jenkins environments that rely on the Google Kubernetes Engine plugin for containerized deployment automation. Attackers can leverage this flaw to gather intelligence about credential configurations and scope limitations, potentially enabling them to craft more sophisticated attacks against the Jenkins infrastructure. The limited information disclosure aspect means that while attackers cannot directly access sensitive credential data, they can gain insights into credential structure and scope boundaries that may aid in subsequent exploitation attempts. This vulnerability particularly impacts organizations that maintain multiple credential configurations for different Kubernetes clusters or environments, as it allows for reconnaissance of credential scope relationships.
The security implications extend beyond simple information disclosure, as this vulnerability aligns with CWE-284, which addresses improper access control mechanisms, and represents a failure in the principle of least privilege enforcement. Attackers can use the gathered information to identify credential configurations that might be more vulnerable to other attack vectors or to understand the scope of potential impact if they can escalate privileges through other means. This vulnerability also correlates with ATT&CK technique T1552.001, which involves the exploitation of credentials in the credential access domain, as it provides attackers with information that can be used to refine their credential harvesting efforts.
Organizations should immediately upgrade to Jenkins Google Kubernetes Engine Plugin version 0.7.1 or later, which contains the necessary permission checks to prevent unauthorized access to credential scope information. Additionally, administrators should implement network-level restrictions to limit access to Jenkins instances, particularly those with Kubernetes plugin functionality, and conduct thorough audit reviews of existing credential configurations to identify any potential scope overlaps or exposures that may have been previously exploited through this vulnerability. Regular monitoring of Jenkins plugin updates and security advisories remains critical for maintaining defense in depth against similar permission-related vulnerabilities.