CVE-2026-79678
Description
A flaw was found in FreeIPA's idp-add command, where insufficiently validated --organization/--base-url input reaches a constrained eval() call before the corresponding LDAP access control check is enforced. This allows any authenticated IPA principal, regardless of privilege level, to enumerate and read the environment variables of the affected server process and to cause denial of service via memory exhaustion.
Statement
This flaw does not allow arbitrary code execution. The eval() call reachable through this flaw is constrained by a regular expression that forbids parentheses in the evaluated expression, which prevents invoking any function.
The severity of the confidentiality impact from this flaw depends on the deployment method. On a standard RPM-based Identity Management (IdM) installation, the affected server process's environment contains only non-sensitive, publicly documented path constants and configuration flags. In container-based deployments using the official FreeIPA server container image, where the Directory Manager and administrator passwords are commonly supplied via an environment variable at first boot, this flaw could expose those credentials if they remain present in the process environment after installation completes.
This flaw is rated Important rather than Critical because no code execution is possible, and rather than Moderate because the confirmed environment-disclosure and denial-of-service primitives are systematic and reliable, and are not dependent on non-default configuration to be triggered.
Mitigation
There is no configuration-based mitigation that prevents an authenticated but unprivileged principal from reaching the affected code path; upgrading to a fixed package is required once available. Administrators of container-based deployments should verify that credentials supplied via the PASSWORD environment variable during initial container setup do not persist in the running server process's environment.
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).
The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 8.1 | N/A | 8.1 |
| Attack Vector | Network | N/A | Network |
| Attack Complexity | Low | N/A | Low |
| Privileges Required | Low | N/A | Low |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | High | N/A | High |
| Integrity Impact | None | N/A | None |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | High |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H
Red Hat CVSS v3 Score Explanation
Deployment-dependent confidentiality impact -- see flaw statement. No code execution: eval() gadget's regex forbids parentheses, blocking any function call. High confidentiality/availability driven by: (1) systematic environment-variable enumeration and read via parenthesis-free star/dict-unpacking plus a boolean-exception oracle, requiring no prior knowledge of variable names; (2) reliable memory-exhaustion DoS via a short right-associative exponentiation payload. Verified against real, unmodified python3-ipaserver/python3-ipalib source, not a reimplementation.
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Read Files or Directories; Read Application Data
The injected code could access restricted data / files.
Access Control
Technical Impact: Bypass Protection Mechanism
In some cases, injectable code controls authentication; this may lead to a remote vulnerability.
Access Control
Technical Impact: Gain Privileges or Assume Identity
Injected code can access resources that the attacker is directly prevented from accessing.
Integrity,Confidentiality,Availability,Other
Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands
Code injection attacks can lead to loss of data integrity in nearly all cases as the control-plane data injected is always incidental to data recall or writing. Additionally, code injection can often result in the execution of arbitrary code or at least modify what code can be executed.
Non-Repudiation
Technical Impact: Hide Activities
Often the actions performed by injected control code are unlogged.
Acknowledgements
Red Hat would like to thank Calif.io (in collaboration with Anthropic) for reporting this issue.
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