CVE-2026-12423
Description
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.
Statement
Successful exploitation of this issue allows an an unauthenticated remote attacker to actively poll the endpoint for a host entering a build state and extract its complete provisioning template. These templates contain highly sensitive data, including the root user's SHA-512 password hash, internal IP topography and active API build tokens.
Note about the fix of this vulnerability:
Provisioning tokens are now required for all operating system entries with Red Hat family set. Attempts to download an unattended template without valid token will lead to "a provisioning token is required but a valid one was not provided" error.
This changed behavior will lead to inability to use Generic or Subnet Bootdisks, systems using this bootdiks will be not matched with the host entry and not boot. To use Bootdisk after applying the errata, either use Full Host Bootdisk which uses tokens, or set Administer - Settings - Provisioning - Installation token lifetime to zero. This turns off the token enforcement and allows unauthenticated parties to use arbitrary MAC addresses in unattended requests to fetch provisioning kickstart with possibly sensitive data.
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 | 7.5 | N/A | 7.5 |
| Attack Vector | Network | N/A | Network |
| Attack Complexity | Low | N/A | Low |
| Privileges Required | None | N/A | None |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | High | N/A | High |
| Integrity Impact | None | N/A | None |
| Availability Impact | None | N/A | None |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Access Control,Other
Technical Impact: Gain Privileges or Assume Identity; Varies by Context
Exposing critical functionality essentially provides an attacker with the privilege level of that functionality. The consequences will depend on the associated functionality, but they can range from reading or modifying sensitive data, accessing administrative or other privileged functionality, or possibly even executing arbitrary code.
Acknowledgements
This issue was discovered by Laura Pardo (Red Hat) and Toni Gornals (Red Hat).
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