CVE-2024-8285 in kroxylicious
Summary
by MITRE • 08/31/2024
A flaw was found in Kroxylicious. When establishing the connection with the upstream Kafka server using a TLS secured connection, Kroxylicious fails to properly verify the server's hostname, resulting in an insecure connection. For a successful attack to be performed, the attacker needs to perform a Man-in-the-Middle attack or compromise any external systems, such as DNS or network routing configuration. This issue is considered a high complexity attack, with additional high privileges required, as the attack would need access to the Kroxylicious configuration or a peer system. The result of a successful attack impacts both data integrity and confidentiality.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/31/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-8285 affects Kroxylicious, a Kafka proxy implementation that facilitates secure communication between clients and upstream Kafka servers. This flaw represents a critical security weakness in the transport layer security implementation where the system fails to properly validate the hostname presented by the upstream Kafka server during TLS handshake procedures. The issue stems from inadequate hostname verification mechanisms that allow potential attackers to establish connections without properly authenticating the server identity. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-295 category for improper certificate validation and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566.001 for credential access through man-in-the-middle attacks.
The technical implementation flaw occurs specifically during TLS connection establishment when Kroxylicious does not perform proper hostname verification against the certificate presented by the upstream Kafka server. This allows for a scenario where an attacker could potentially present a valid certificate for a different hostname, or where a compromised intermediate system could redirect traffic to malicious endpoints. The attack vector requires significant prerequisites including network-level access to intercept traffic or the ability to compromise DNS infrastructure, making it a high complexity attack requiring substantial privileges and access to either the Kroxylicious configuration files or peer systems within the network infrastructure. The vulnerability creates a pathway for attackers to potentially intercept or manipulate data flowing between clients and Kafka servers.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data confidentiality breaches to encompass complete data integrity compromise. When attackers successfully exploit this vulnerability, they can potentially intercept, modify, or redirect data flows between Kafka clients and upstream servers without detection. This creates a significant risk for organizations relying on Kroxylicious for message broker proxying, as it undermines the fundamental security guarantees provided by TLS encryption. The vulnerability affects both data confidentiality and integrity, meaning that sensitive information could be read by unauthorized parties while also potentially being altered in transit. Organizations using this proxy implementation face elevated risks of data breaches, service disruption, and potential compliance violations.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2024-8285 should focus on multiple defensive layers including immediate patch application when available, enhanced network monitoring for unusual TLS handshake patterns, and implementation of additional verification mechanisms beyond the default hostname checking. Organizations should consider deploying network segmentation to limit access to Kroxylicious configurations and implement strict access controls for system administrators. The solution aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566.002 for credential access through man-in-the-middle attacks and requires organizations to follow security best practices for TLS configuration management. Additional mitigations include implementing certificate pinning where appropriate, monitoring for unauthorized certificate changes, and ensuring proper network infrastructure security to prevent DNS poisoning or routing manipulation attacks that could exploit this vulnerability.