CVE-2020-7942 : Vulnerability Insights and Analysis

A vulnerability in Puppet and Puppet Agent versions prior to specific releases could allow arbitrary retrieval of information, potentially compromising system security.

Understanding CVE-2020-7942

This CVE highlights a security issue in Puppet and Puppet Agent software versions that could lead to unauthorized access to sensitive data.

What is CVE-2020-7942?

The vulnerability in Puppet and Puppet Agent versions allowed nodes with compromised certificates to access information beyond their entitlement, posing a security risk.

The Impact of CVE-2020-7942

The vulnerability could result in unauthorized access to sensitive infrastructure data, potentially leading to data breaches and system compromise.

Technical Details of CVE-2020-7942

This section provides detailed technical information about the vulnerability.

Vulnerability Description

The issue stemmed from Puppet's model that granted nodes with valid certificates access to all system information, allowing compromised certificates to exploit this access.

Affected Systems and Versions

Puppet 5.5.x versions prior to 5.5.19
Puppet 6.x versions prior to 6.13.0
Puppet Agent 5.5.x versions prior to 5.5.19
Puppet Agent 6.x versions prior to 6.13.0

Exploitation Mechanism

By manipulating facts during a Puppet run, a node's catalog could fall back to the

default

node, enabling retrieval of catalogs for different nodes, breaching security.

Mitigation and Prevention

Protect your systems from CVE-2020-7942 with the following measures:

Immediate Steps to Take

Set

strict_hostname_checking = true

in

puppet.conf

on your Puppet master

Long-Term Security Practices

Upgrade to Puppet 6.13.0 or Puppet Agent 6.13.0 to ensure secure behavior

Patching and Updates

Ensure Puppet 5.5.19 or Puppet Agent 5.5.19 to address the vulnerability