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CVE-2024-9779NVD status: Deferred

Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for…: Incorrect Privilege Assignment

CVE-2024-9779 is a high-severity incorrect privilege assignment vulnerability in Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2 from Red Hat, 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. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.44% 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 Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2 you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.
  2. 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
Red HatRed Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2Not specified in the recordNot 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
LowSome restricted data can be read.
Integrity
HighData or code can be modified at will.
Availability
NoneAvailability is not affected.

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

Official description

A flaw was found in Open Cluster Management (OCM) when a user has access to the worker nodes which contain the cluster-manager or klusterlet deployments. The cluster-manager deployment uses a service account with the same name "cluster-manager" which is bound to a ClusterRole also named "cluster-manager", which includes the permission to create Pod resources. If this deployment runs a pod on an attacker-controlled node, the attacker can obtain the cluster-manager's token and steal any service account token by creating and mounting the target service account to control the whole cluster.

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

The underlying weakness: Incorrect Privilege Assignment

A product incorrectly assigns a privilege to a particular actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor.

How developers prevent this class of flaw

  • Very carefully manage the setting, management, and handling of privileges. Explicitly manage trust zones in the software.
  • Run your code using the lowest privileges that are required to accomplish the necessary tasks. If possible, create isolated accounts with limited privileges that are only used for a single task. That way, a successful attack will not immediately give the attacker access to the rest of the software or its environment. For example, database applications rarely need to run as the database administrator, especially in day-to-day operations.

More Incorrect Privilege Assignment vulnerabilities (CWE-266)

Timeline

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

References

Other vulnerabilities in Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2

All Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2 vulnerabilities

Recent Incorrect Privilege Assignment vulnerabilities

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