CVE-2022-20620 in SSH Agent Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 01/12/2022
Missing permission checks in Jenkins SSH Agent Plugin 1.23 and earlier allows attackers with Overall/Read access to enumerate credentials IDs of credentials stored in Jenkins.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/15/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2022-20620 represents a critical authorization flaw within the Jenkins SSH Agent Plugin version 1.23 and earlier. This issue stems from insufficient permission validation mechanisms that allow unauthorized users to bypass normal access controls and discover sensitive credential information. The vulnerability specifically affects systems where the SSH Agent Plugin is installed and configured, creating a pathway for attackers to exploit weak authorization boundaries within the Jenkins ecosystem.
The technical implementation of this flaw involves the absence of proper access control checks when processing credential enumeration requests. Attackers with only Overall/Read permission level can leverage this vulnerability to obtain lists of credential IDs stored within Jenkins. This represents a significant escalation from their limited access rights, as credential IDs serve as pointers to sensitive authentication information that could subsequently be targeted through additional attack vectors. The flaw operates at the application logic level, where the plugin fails to validate whether the requesting user possesses sufficient privileges to access credential metadata.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates substantial risk for Jenkins environments that rely heavily on credential management for automated processes and system integrations. The enumeration of credential IDs enables attackers to build comprehensive inventories of authentication assets, which can then be used to target specific credentials through brute force attacks, credential stuffing, or other exploitation techniques. This vulnerability directly impacts the principle of least privilege and undermines the security posture of Jenkins installations by exposing internal credential structures to unauthorized users. The impact extends beyond immediate credential exposure to potentially enable broader system compromise through subsequent attacks targeting the discovered credentials.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including upgrading to Jenkins SSH Agent Plugin version 1.24 or later, which contains the necessary permission validation fixes. Access control policies should be reviewed and strengthened to ensure that users with Overall/Read permissions cannot enumerate credential information. Network segmentation and additional monitoring controls should be implemented to detect unusual credential enumeration patterns. Security teams should conduct comprehensive audits of credential usage and implement principle of least privilege enforcement across all Jenkins components. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-284, which addresses improper access control, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1552.001 for credentials from password storage modules. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be maintained to identify similar authorization gaps in other Jenkins plugins and components, ensuring comprehensive protection against credential enumeration attacks.