CVE-2018-14643

Vulnerability

An authentication bypass flaw exists in the smart_proxy_dynflow component of Foreman, which handles remote execution jobs. The vulnerability allows an attacker to bypass authentication and execute arbitrary commands on machines managed by vulnerable Foreman instances. Affected versions include Foreman deployments using smart_proxy_dynflow prior to the fix merged in pull request #54 [2]. The issue is described in Red Hat security advisory [1] and NVD entry [3].

Exploitation

An attacker can send specially crafted requests to the smart_proxy_dynflow endpoint without any authentication. No prior access, user interaction, or special privileges are required. The attacker can then execute arbitrary commands on managed hosts through the remote execution feature.

Impact

Successful exploitation results in remote code execution with highly privileged context on machines managed by the Foreman instance. This compromises the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected systems, potentially allowing full control over managed hosts.

Mitigation

The fix was implemented in pull request #54 [2] and released in updated packages. Red Hat provided errata [1] and the issue is tracked in Bugzilla [4]. Users should update to the patched version of smart_proxy_dynflow. No workaround is documented; upgrading is the recommended mitigation.