CVE-2024-29880 in TeamCity
Summary
by MITRE • 03/21/2024
In JetBrains TeamCity before 2023.11 users with access to the agent machine might obtain permissions of the user running the agent process
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/16/2024
This vulnerability in JetBrains TeamCity affects versions prior to 2023.11 and represents a critical privilege escalation flaw that allows authenticated users with access to agent machines to escalate their privileges to match those of the user running the TeamCity agent process. The issue stems from inadequate permission handling within the agent execution environment where local access to an agent machine can be exploited to gain elevated system privileges. This represents a significant security risk as it directly undermines the principle of least privilege and could enable attackers to compromise the entire build infrastructure.
The technical flaw manifests when a user with local access to a TeamCity agent machine can manipulate the execution environment to execute code with the elevated privileges of the agent process owner. This typically occurs due to insufficient sandboxing or privilege separation mechanisms within the agent implementation. The vulnerability falls under CWE-276 which describes improper privileges, and specifically relates to CWE-732 which addresses inadequate privilege separation. The flaw allows for a lateral movement attack vector where local access can be leveraged to achieve system-level privileges, making it particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where build agents often run with elevated permissions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation as it can enable attackers to access sensitive build artifacts, credentials stored in build environments, and potentially compromise the entire CI/CD pipeline. Attackers could gain access to source code repositories, deployment credentials, and other sensitive information that may be processed by the build agents. This vulnerability directly maps to ATT&CK technique T1068 which covers local privilege escalation, and T1566 which covers credential harvesting through social engineering or compromised systems. The attack surface is particularly concerning in organizations where build agents are deployed across multiple environments and may have access to production systems.
Organizations should immediately upgrade to TeamCity version 2023.11 or later to remediate this vulnerability. Additionally, implementing network segmentation between agent machines and sensitive systems, ensuring agents run with minimal required privileges, and monitoring for unauthorized access to agent machines can provide additional defense layers. Regular security audits of build environments and privilege assignments should be conducted to identify potential misconfigurations. The vulnerability highlights the importance of proper privilege separation in distributed build systems and the need for robust security controls in CI/CD environments where automation can create significant attack vectors if not properly secured.