CVE-2024-7143 in Ansible Automation Platform
Summary
by MITRE • 08/07/2024
A flaw was found in the Pulp package. When a role-based access control (RBAC) object in Pulp is set to assign permissions on its creation, it uses the `AutoAddObjPermsMixin` (typically the add_roles_for_object_creator method). This method finds the object creator by checking the current authenticated user. For objects that are created within a task, this current user is set by the first user with any permissions on the task object. This means the oldest user with model/domain-level task permissions will always be set as the current user of a task, even if they didn't dispatch the task. Therefore, all objects created in tasks will have their permissions assigned to this oldest user, and the creating user will receive nothing.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/31/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-7143 resides within the Pulp package's role-based access control implementation, specifically affecting how permissions are assigned to objects created through asynchronous task execution. This flaw represents a critical misconfiguration in the system's permission management logic that fundamentally undermines the security model intended to protect organizational data access. The issue manifests when objects are created within task contexts, where the system incorrectly identifies the object creator based on the first authenticated user with permissions on the task object rather than the actual user who initiated the task. This misidentification creates a systematic privilege escalation vector where administrative actions performed by newer users are attributed to older users who happen to possess the necessary permissions, effectively bypassing proper access controls. The vulnerability directly impacts the integrity of Pulp's access control mechanisms and violates fundamental security principles of least privilege and proper attribution of system actions.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability stems from the implementation of the AutoAddObjPermsMixin class, which is designed to automatically assign permissions to the object creator upon resource creation. When Pulp processes objects created within task contexts, the system relies on a mechanism that determines the current authenticated user by examining the task object's permission history. This approach fails to distinguish between the actual task dispatcher and the first user who gained permissions on the task object, creating a deterministic but incorrect assignment of ownership. The system's logic assumes that the first user with task permissions is the creator, regardless of the actual sequence of operations or the true initiating user. This flaw is particularly dangerous because it operates silently without user intervention, making detection difficult and allowing unauthorized permission assignments to occur automatically. The implementation violates security best practices by not properly tracking the true context of operations and instead relying on potentially stale or irrelevant permission state information.
The operational impact of CVE-2024-7143 extends beyond simple permission misassignment to create significant security risks within organizations using Pulp for package management and distribution. When objects are created through automated processes or background tasks, all permissions are incorrectly attributed to the oldest user with task permissions, potentially granting unauthorized access to sensitive resources. This vulnerability undermines audit trails and makes it impossible to accurately track who performed specific actions within the system, creating compliance issues and making incident response more difficult. The flaw affects both model-level and domain-level permissions, meaning that the impact is broad across different types of Pulp resources and can potentially allow users with lower privileges to gain access to resources they should not be able to access. Organizations relying on Pulp for package management may experience unauthorized access to repositories, configuration changes, or other administrative functions, depending on the specific permissions assigned to the oldest users with task access. The vulnerability also creates potential for privilege escalation attacks where malicious actors could manipulate task permissions to gain unauthorized access to resources.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2024-7143 should focus on immediate implementation of access control hardening measures while awaiting official patches from the Pulp development team. Organizations should review and audit existing task permissions to identify potential exploitation vectors, ensuring that only necessary users possess task-level permissions and that these permissions are carefully controlled. The recommended approach involves implementing additional validation layers that properly track task initiators and ensure that object creation permissions are correctly attributed to the actual creators rather than relying on the first user with task permissions. Security teams should consider implementing monitoring solutions that detect unusual permission assignment patterns and alert on potential misattributions. Additionally, organizations should enforce principle of least privilege by limiting task permissions to the minimum necessary users and regularly reviewing permission assignments. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) and ATT&CK techniques related to privilege escalation and permission manipulation, emphasizing the need for comprehensive access control reviews and system hardening measures. The fix should involve modifying the AutoAddObjPermsMixin to properly track task execution context and ensure accurate attribution of object creators, preventing the systematic misassignment of permissions that this vulnerability enables.