CVE-2019-12494 : Exploit Details and Defense Strategies

In previous versions of Gardener (before 0.20.0), a vulnerability existed in the access control of seed clusters, leading to unauthorized information exposure. Exploiting this flaw involved sending HTTP GET requests from a personal shoot cluster to external shoot clusters due to improper traffic blocking between shoots and seeds.

Understanding CVE-2019-12494

This CVE entry describes a high-severity vulnerability in Gardener that could result in significant impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information.

What is CVE-2019-12494?

The vulnerability in Gardener before version 0.20.0 allowed unauthorized access to information by exploiting flaws in seed cluster access control. Attackers could send HTTP requests from personal shoot clusters to external ones, leveraging the lack of proper traffic blocking.

The Impact of CVE-2019-12494

The vulnerability's high severity (CVSS base score of 8.5) could lead to severe consequences:

Confidentiality Impact: High
Integrity Impact: High
Availability Impact: High

Technical Details of CVE-2019-12494

This section provides detailed technical insights into the vulnerability.

Vulnerability Description

The flaw in Gardener allowed unauthorized exposure of information by circumventing access controls in seed clusters, enabling attackers to send HTTP requests from personal shoot clusters to external ones.

Affected Systems and Versions

Affected Product: Not applicable
Affected Vendor: Not applicable
Affected Versions: All versions before 0.20.0

Exploitation Mechanism

Attackers could exploit this vulnerability by sending HTTP GET requests from their personal shoot clusters to external shoot clusters due to the lack of proper traffic blocking between shoots and seeds.

Mitigation and Prevention

Protecting systems from CVE-2019-12494 requires immediate actions and long-term security practices.

Immediate Steps to Take

Upgrade Gardener to version 0.20.0 or newer to mitigate the vulnerability.
Implement network segmentation to restrict unauthorized access between shoot and seed clusters.

Long-Term Security Practices

Regularly review and update access control policies within Gardener clusters.
Conduct security assessments to identify and address similar vulnerabilities proactively.

Patching and Updates

Apply security patches and updates provided by Gardener promptly to address known vulnerabilities.