CVE-2023-25812 in Minio
Summary
by MITRE • 02/21/2023
Minio is a Multi-Cloud Object Storage framework. Affected versions do not correctly honor a `Deny` policy on ByPassGoverance. Ideally, minio should return "Access Denied" to all users attempting to DELETE a versionId with the special header `X-Amz-Bypass-Governance-Retention: true`. However, this was not honored instead the request will be honored and an object under governance would be incorrectly deleted. All users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this issue.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/23/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-25812 affects Minio, a widely deployed multi-cloud object storage framework that provides S3-compatible storage solutions. This security flaw represents a critical access control bypass issue that fundamentally undermines the governance mechanisms designed to protect data integrity within object storage systems. The vulnerability specifically targets the handling of governance retention policies, which are essential components of data protection strategies that prevent unauthorized deletion or modification of objects that are subject to retention requirements.
The technical flaw manifests in Minio's failure to properly enforce deny policies when processing requests that attempt to delete versioned objects while bypassing governance retention mechanisms. When a client makes a DELETE request with the X-Amz-Bypass-Governance-Retention header set to true, the system should reject such requests with an "Access Denied" response to prevent unauthorized deletion of objects that are under governance. However, the vulnerability allows these bypass requests to succeed despite the presence of explicit deny policies, effectively circumventing the intended data protection controls. This behavior violates fundamental security principles of access control and data governance, creating a scenario where objects protected by governance retention policies can be permanently deleted without proper authorization.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and potentially catastrophic for organizations relying on Minio for critical data storage and compliance requirements. When objects under governance retention are incorrectly deleted, it can lead to data loss incidents that violate regulatory compliance standards such as those required by SOX, HIPAA, or GDPR. The vulnerability affects all versions of Minio that do not properly implement the governance retention policy enforcement, meaning that organizations may be unknowingly exposing their governed data to unauthorized deletion. This flaw particularly impacts environments where data retention policies are critical for legal, regulatory, or business compliance purposes, as it undermines the integrity of the entire governance framework.
Organizations should immediately prioritize upgrading their Minio deployments to versions that address this vulnerability, as no effective workarounds exist for this specific issue. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-693, which covers protection mechanism failures, and represents a clear violation of the principle of least privilege that is fundamental to secure system design. From an attacker's perspective, this vulnerability maps to ATT&CK technique T1486, which involves data encryption for ransom, though in this case the impact is more about unauthorized data deletion rather than encryption. The security implications extend beyond simple access control, as this flaw can be exploited to undermine compliance frameworks and potentially lead to significant financial and legal consequences for organizations that rely on governed data retention policies for regulatory compliance.
The vulnerability demonstrates a critical failure in Minio's policy enforcement engine, where the system incorrectly prioritizes the bypass mechanism over the explicit deny policies that should govern access to governed objects. This flaw represents a fundamental breakdown in the security architecture of the storage platform and highlights the importance of proper policy enforcement in cloud storage systems. The lack of workarounds means that organizations cannot implement temporary mitigations while planning their upgrade strategy, making immediate action essential to protect governed data assets from potential unauthorized deletion. Security teams should conduct comprehensive audits of their Minio deployments to identify all affected versions and prioritize remediation efforts to prevent potential data loss incidents that could compromise regulatory compliance and business continuity requirements.