CVE-2019-15149 in Mitogen
Summary
by MITRE
core.py in Mitogen before 0.2.8 has a typo that drops the unidirectional-routing protection mechanism in the case of a child that is initiated by another child. The Ansible extension is unaffected.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/05/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-15149 represents a critical security flaw in the Mitogen library version 0.2.8 and earlier, specifically within the core.py file where a typographical error undermines the unidirectional routing protection mechanism. This issue occurs in scenarios where a child process is initiated by another child process, creating a cascading effect that compromises the intended security architecture. The vulnerability directly impacts the integrity of communication channels within distributed systems that rely on Mitogen for process management and orchestration.
The technical flaw manifests as a simple but consequential typo in the core.py implementation that governs how routing decisions are made when child processes spawn other child processes. This typographical error effectively disables the unidirectional routing protection that was designed to prevent unauthorized communication paths between processes, thereby allowing potential attackers to establish unexpected communication channels. The mechanism that was intended to enforce one-way data flow between parent and child processes becomes ineffective, creating a vector for privilege escalation and unauthorized data access. This type of vulnerability maps directly to CWE-787: Out-of-bounds Write and CWE-20: Improper Input Validation, as it represents a failure in proper validation of process communication pathways.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple code corruption, as it fundamentally weakens the security posture of systems that depend on Mitogen for orchestration and process management. When a child process initiated by another child bypasses the intended routing protections, it creates opportunities for malicious actors to intercept communications, manipulate data flow, or establish covert channels between processes that should remain isolated. This compromise is particularly dangerous in environments where Ansible is used for automation, as it could enable attackers to gain elevated privileges or access sensitive information through the compromised communication channels. The vulnerability affects the core security model of Mitogen's process isolation mechanisms and represents a failure in the security architecture that was designed to prevent exactly these types of lateral movement scenarios.
While the Ansible extension remains unaffected, this does not mitigate the overall risk as the vulnerability exists at the core library level where Ansible relies on Mitogen for its distributed execution capabilities. Organizations using Mitogen in conjunction with Ansible or other automation tools face significant exposure, as the vulnerability could be exploited to compromise the entire orchestration environment. The attack surface expands to include any system where Mitogen is used for process management, particularly in enterprise environments where distributed automation is common. Security teams must consider this vulnerability in the context of the MITRE ATT&CK framework, specifically under the T1059.001 technique for command and scripting interpreter, as it could enable attackers to execute malicious commands through compromised communication channels. The vulnerability highlights the critical importance of maintaining secure coding practices and thorough code review processes, particularly for libraries that form the foundation of security-critical infrastructure components. Organizations should immediately upgrade to Mitogen version 0.2.8 or later to remediate this vulnerability and ensure that their distributed automation environments maintain proper process isolation and communication security.