CVE-2026-12423 in Foreman
Summary
by MITRE • 10/01/2026
A flaw was found in Foreman. The Red Hat Satellite /unattended/provision API endpoint is vulnerable to an authentication bypass due to a semantic logic flaw in host_verifier.rb. The application verifies the database state of a provisioning token rather than its actual presence in the incoming HTTP request. Because a host actively undergoing provisioning has an unexpired token in the database, the server's valid_host_token? method evaluates to true, granting access to the kickstart template even if the requester provides no token at all in the URL.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/01/2026
The vulnerability identified within Red Hat Satellite and Foreman represents a critical authentication bypass affecting the /unattended/provision API endpoint. This flaw stems from a semantic logic error located specifically within the host_verifier.rb component of the application codebase. The core issue arises because the system's verification mechanism relies on checking the state of a provisioning token stored in the database rather than validating its presence and correctness within the incoming HTTP request parameters. In standard secure authentication flows, credentials or tokens must be explicitly provided by the client to prove identity; however, this implementation incorrectly assumes that if a valid, unexpired token exists for a host currently undergoing provisioning in the backend database, access should be granted regardless of whether the requester actually presents that specific token during the API call.
From an operational perspective, this logic flaw allows any actor with network connectivity to the Satellite or Foreman server to bypass authentication controls when targeting hosts that are actively being provisioned. By omitting the provisioning token entirely from the URL parameters sent in the HTTP request, an attacker can trigger the valid_host_token? method to return true simply because the database contains a record of a pending or active provisioning job for that host ID. This effectively neutralizes the intended security boundary, allowing unauthorized users to access sensitive kickstart templates and potentially other unattended provision resources without possessing the required authentication credentials. The impact is particularly severe during live deployment windows where hosts are being configured automatically, as it opens a window of opportunity for malicious actors to intercept or manipulate provisioning data.
This vulnerability aligns with CWE-287, which describes Improper Authentication, specifically illustrating a failure in verifying identity due to flawed logic rather than missing checks. It also maps closely to MITRE ATT&CK technique T1078, Valid Accounts, as the attacker exploits legitimate system states and credentials (or lack thereof) to gain unauthorized access. The exploitation does not require complex buffer overflows or memory corruption but relies entirely on misconfigured logical validation rules that fail to enforce strict input verification against backend state.
Mitigation strategies must focus on correcting the logic within host_verifier.rb to ensure that authentication checks are strictly bound to the credentials presented in the request itself, rather than relying solely on database existence proofs. Administrators should apply vendor-provided patches immediately if available, as this is a known issue affecting specific versions of Foreman and Red Hat Satellite. In the interim, network-level controls such as restricting access to the /unattended/provision endpoint via firewall rules or reverse proxy configurations can limit exposure until the code logic is corrected. Additionally, auditing logs for requests that lack expected token parameters but still result in successful template retrievals may help identify potential exploitation attempts during the remediation period.