CVE-2021-41532 in Ozone
Summary
by MITRE • 11/19/2021
In Apache Ozone before 1.2.0, Recon HTTP endpoints provide access to OM, SCM and Datanode metadata. Due to a bug, any unauthenticated user can access the data from these endpoints.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/22/2021
Apache Ozone Recon module contains a critical authentication vulnerability that allows unauthorized access to sensitive metadata from multiple core components. This flaw exists in versions prior to 1.2.0 and affects the HTTP endpoints that serve information from the Object Manager OM, Storage Cluster Manager SCM, and Datanode components. The vulnerability stems from insufficient access controls within the Recon service, which fails to properly validate user authentication status before exposing sensitive operational data. This represents a direct violation of the principle of least privilege and undermines the fundamental security boundaries that should separate authenticated and unauthenticated access to system metadata.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves a failure in the Recon service's authentication middleware that processes incoming HTTP requests to metadata endpoints. When unauthenticated requests are made to these endpoints, the system does not properly verify the presence of valid authentication tokens or credentials before returning responses containing metadata from OM, SCM, and Datanode components. This allows any external attacker or internal user without proper authorization to retrieve operational information that would typically be restricted to authorized administrators and system components. The flaw creates a path for information disclosure that can reveal system architecture details, operational configurations, and metadata that could be leveraged for further attacks. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 Access Control Issues and represents a significant deviation from secure coding practices that mandate proper authentication verification before data exposure.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and multifaceted across multiple attack vectors and threat scenarios. An unauthenticated attacker could gain visibility into the internal structure of the Ozone storage cluster, including metadata about object placement, storage topology, and operational states of various system components. This information could be used to plan more sophisticated attacks targeting specific components or to understand the system's operational patterns. The exposure of OM metadata could reveal object-level information and access control policies, while SCM metadata could provide insights into storage cluster configuration and capacity planning. Datanode metadata exposure could enable attackers to understand the physical storage layout and identify potential targets for data manipulation or exfiltration attempts. This vulnerability directly maps to several ATT&CK techniques including T1069 Network Configuration Discovery and T1082 System Information Discovery, as it enables adversaries to gather comprehensive system information without requiring valid credentials.
The recommended mitigation strategy involves immediate upgrade to Apache Ozone version 1.2.0 or later where the authentication flaw has been addressed. Organizations should also implement additional network-level controls such as firewall rules that restrict access to Recon HTTP endpoints to trusted administrative networks only. The system configuration should be reviewed to ensure that authentication is properly enforced at the Recon service level, and any custom authentication configurations should be validated to prevent similar issues. Network segmentation should be implemented to isolate Recon endpoints from public-facing services, and monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual access patterns to these endpoints. Security teams should conduct comprehensive audits of all Ozone service endpoints to identify any additional authentication bypass vulnerabilities and ensure that proper access controls are implemented across the entire system architecture. Regular security assessments and penetration testing should be performed to validate that authentication mechanisms are functioning correctly and that no similar vulnerabilities exist in other components of the Ozone ecosystem.