CVE-2024-32498
Description
An input validation flaw was discovered in how multiple OpenStack services validate images with backing file references. An authenticated attacker could provide a malicious image via upload, or by creating and modifying an image from an existing volume. Validation of images can be triggered during image upload or when attaching images to virtual machines. During this process, the affected OpenStack services could be tricked into reading or writing to the host with the equivalent privileges of QEMU. This bypasses isolation restrictions, significantly reducing the security of an affected compute host, and could enable arbitrary code execution, a denial of service, or leaking of secrets. If exploited, the immediate impact is limited to an individual compute host. However, if the attacker has access to multiple hosts and enough time to repeat it, they could potentially spread across all compute hosts.
Statement
The vast majority of deployments of Red Hat OpenStack Platform should be assumed to be vulnerable as they are likely to be using at least one of the impacted services: Compute (nova), Block Storage (cinder), and Image (glance).
While an attacker must have valid login credentials to exploit this vulnerability, OpenStack supports multiple deployment scenarios with a variety of security postures. Open-cloud or multi-tenant deployments where infrastructure is shared by users who may be untrusted should treat this vulnerability as if it could be performed by an unauthenticated attacker. Considering this, along with the significant potential for disruption, we have rated the severity of this vulnerability as Critical.
The discovery of this vulnerability led to the discovery of an additional vulnerability (CVE-2024-4467) in QEMU. The impact to QEMU is significantly less as it is designed to only be run with trusted images. Red Hat OpenStack Platform is at a higher risk due from this underlying vulnerability, as OpenStack must tolerate running untrusted images.
Mitigation
Red Hat has investigated whether a possible mitigation exists for this issue, and has not been able to identify a practical example. Please update the affected package as soon as possible.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 8.8 | 6.5 | 6.5 |
| Attack Vector | Local | Network | Network |
| Attack Complexity | Low | Low | Low |
| Privileges Required | Low | Low | Low |
| User Interaction | None | None | None |
| Scope | Changed | Unchanged | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | High | High | High |
| Integrity Impact | High | None | None |
| Availability Impact | High | None | None |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Red Hat CVSS v3 Score Explanation
After careful analysis of the subsequent flaw, it has been found that an attacker with access to multiple hosts can spread through lateral movement by writing files to those hosts and performing code execution in them, which is why the CVSS has been marked as such.
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Integrity,Confidentiality,Availability
Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands
The attacker may be able to create or overwrite critical files that are used to execute code, such as programs or libraries.
Integrity
Technical Impact: Modify Files or Directories
The attacker may be able to overwrite or create critical files, such as programs, libraries, or important data. If the targeted file is used for a security mechanism, then the attacker may be able to bypass that mechanism. For example, appending a new account at the end of a password file may allow an attacker to bypass authentication.
Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Read Files or Directories
The attacker may be able read the contents of unexpected files and expose sensitive data. If the targeted file is used for a security mechanism, then the attacker may be able to bypass that mechanism. For example, by reading a password file, the attacker could conduct brute force password guessing attacks in order to break into an account on the system.
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
The attacker may be able to overwrite, delete, or corrupt unexpected critical files such as programs, libraries, or important data. This may prevent the product from working at all and in the case of protection mechanisms such as authentication, it has the potential to lock out product users.
Acknowledgements
Red Hat would like to thank Martin Kaesberger for reporting this issue.
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