CyberSecBulletin
CVE-2024-8901NVD status: Deferred

AWS ALB Route Directive Adapter For Istio: Authentication Bypass by Spoofing

CVE-2024-8901 is a high-severity authentication bypass by spoofing vulnerability in AWS ALB Route Directive Adapter For Istio from Amazon, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.5 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. Affected AWS ALB Route Directive Adapter For Istio versions: 1.0; 1.1. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.4% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.

Next patch cycle

High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.

What to do

  1. Check which version of AWS ALB Route Directive Adapter For Istio you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.
  2. Read the advisory on aws.amazon.com for workarounds and exact fixed builds.
  3. Until you can update, restrict network access to the affected service so it is not reachable from untrusted networks.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
AmazonAWS ALB Route Directive Adapter For Istio1.0; 1.1Not stated

Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.

How the severity score breaks down

Attack vector
NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
Attack complexity
HighSuccess depends on conditions outside the attacker's control.
Privileges required
NoneNo account or login is needed.
User interaction
NoneNo action by a victim is required.
Scope
ChangedThe attack can reach beyond the vulnerable component into other systems.
Confidentiality
HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
Integrity
LowLimited modification of data is possible.
Availability
NoneAvailability is not affected.

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:N. Scored by CNA.

Scoring systemScoreSeverityScored by
CVSS 4.06.9MediumCNA
CVSS 3.17.5HighCNA

Official description

The AWS ALB Route Directive Adapter For Istio repo https://github.com/awslabs/aws-alb-route-directive-adapter-for-istio/tree/master provides an OIDC authentication mechanism that was integrated into the open source Kubeflow project. The adapter uses JWT for authentication, but lacks proper signer and issuer validation. In deployments of ALB that ignore security best practices, where ALB targets are directly exposed to internet traffic, an actor can provide a JWT signed by an untrusted entity in order to spoof OIDC-federated sessions and successfully bypass authentication. The repository/package has been deprecated, is end of life, and is no longer supported. As a security best practice, ensure that your ELB targets (e.g. EC2 Instances, Fargate Tasks etc.) do not have public IP addresses. Ensure any forked or derivative code validate that the signer attribute in the JWT match the ARN of the Application Load Balancer that the service is configured to use.

Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.

The underlying weakness: Authentication Bypass by Spoofing

This attack-focused weakness is caused by incorrectly implemented authentication schemes that are subject to spoofing attacks.

More Authentication Bypass by Spoofing vulnerabilities (CWE-290)

Timeline

  1. CVE record published.
  2. CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: total).
  3. Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).

References

Recent Authentication Bypass by Spoofing vulnerabilities

Spotted an error? Tell us.