CVE-2019-10446 in Cadence vManager Plugin
Summary
by MITRE
Jenkins Cadence vManager Plugin 2.7.0 and earlier disabled SSL/TLS and hostname verification globally for the Jenkins master JVM.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/16/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-10446 affects the Jenkins Cadence vManager Plugin version 2.7.0 and earlier, representing a critical security flaw that compromises the integrity of secure communications within Jenkins environments. This issue stems from the plugin's improper handling of SSL/TLS security mechanisms, which are fundamental components for establishing secure network connections and protecting data in transit. The flaw allows malicious actors to potentially intercept, modify, or steal sensitive information exchanged between Jenkins components and external systems.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the plugin's global disabling of SSL/TLS and hostname verification mechanisms within the Jenkins master JVM environment. This configuration change effectively removes the cryptographic security protections that normally validate server certificates and establish secure encrypted connections. When SSL/TLS verification is disabled, the system becomes vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks where attackers can impersonate legitimate servers without detection. The hostname verification component specifically ensures that the certificate presented by a server matches the expected host, preventing attackers from using fraudulent certificates to gain unauthorized access to Jenkins infrastructure.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple communication security degradation, as it fundamentally undermines the trust model that Jenkins relies upon for secure automation processes. Organizations using affected plugin versions face significant risks including unauthorized access to build artifacts, credentials exposure, and potential compromise of entire CI/CD pipelines. The vulnerability affects not only the immediate Jenkins environment but can also extend to downstream systems that rely on Jenkins for secure communication protocols, creating cascading security risks throughout the software development lifecycle infrastructure.
Security professionals should recognize this issue as a direct violation of security best practices outlined in industry standards such as CWE-295, which specifically addresses improper certificate validation and hostname verification failures. The vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1046, which involves network service scanning and exploitation of insecure communication channels, making it particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where Jenkins masters typically serve as central automation hubs. Organizations should immediately upgrade to plugin versions that address this issue, implement network segmentation to limit exposure, and conduct thorough security audits of their Jenkins configurations to ensure no other components have been similarly compromised.
Mitigation strategies should include immediate patching of the affected plugin to version 2.7.1 or later, which properly implements SSL/TLS verification mechanisms. System administrators must also review and validate all Jenkins security configurations to ensure that no other components have disabled security protocols. Network-level protections such as firewalls and intrusion detection systems should be configured to monitor for unusual communication patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. Additionally, organizations should implement comprehensive monitoring solutions that can detect unauthorized changes to security configurations and establish automated alerting for potential certificate validation failures. The vulnerability serves as a critical reminder of the importance of maintaining secure communication protocols in automated environments and demonstrates how seemingly small configuration changes can have significant security implications across entire infrastructure ecosystems.