CVE-2020-5426 Explained : Impact and Mitigation

Scheduler for TAS can transmit privileged UAA token in plaintext.

Understanding CVE-2020-5426

Scheduler for TAS prior to version 1.4.0 allowed plaintext transmission of UAA client tokens, posing a security risk.

What is CVE-2020-5426?

The vulnerability in Scheduler for TAS allowed the transmission of sensitive UAA client tokens in plaintext over non-TLS connections, potentially granting attackers admin-level access.

The Impact of CVE-2020-5426

The vulnerability scored a CVSS base score of 8.6 (High severity) due to its potential for high confidentiality impact and low integrity impact.

Technical Details of CVE-2020-5426

Scheduler for TAS vulnerability details.

Vulnerability Description

CWE-319: Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information
Scheduler for TAS allowed plaintext transmission of UAA client tokens over non-TLS connections.

Affected Systems and Versions

Product: Pivotal Scheduler
Vendor: VMware Tanzu
Versions Affected: All versions less than 1.4.0

Exploitation Mechanism

Attacker intercepts plaintext UAA client tokens transmitted over non-TLS connections.

Mitigation and Prevention

Steps to address CVE-2020-5426.

Immediate Steps to Take

Upgrade Scheduler for TAS to version 1.4.0 or newer to prevent plaintext transmission of UAA tokens.
Implement TLS encryption for UAA token transmissions.

Long-Term Security Practices

Regularly review and update security configurations for MySQL servers caching UAA client tokens.
Conduct security audits to detect any unauthorized access or token misuse.

Patching and Updates

Apply patches and updates provided by VMware Tanzu to address the vulnerability.