CVE-2021-38598: Neutron OpenStack Neutron Vulnerable To Hardware Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-hvm4-mc7m-22w4
CVSS 9.1
CWE-863
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2021-38598 is a HIGH (CVSS 9.1) openstack neutron vulnerable to hardware vulnerability (CWE-863: Incorrect Authorization) affecting Neutron libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves openstack neutron vulnerable to hardware address impersonation. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 16.4.1, 17.1.3.

CVE-2021-38598 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2021-38598
GHSA Identifier GHSA-hvm4-mc7m-22w4
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 9.1
CWE Classification CWE-863: Incorrect Authorization
Affected Product Neutron
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 9.1

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality None (C:N)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2021-38598

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Neutron dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

neutron fixed: 16.4.1
pip install neutron>=16.4.1
neutron fixed: 17.1.3
pip install neutron>=17.1.3
neutron fixed: Latest secure release
pip install neutron>=Latest secure release
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release:

pip show neutron

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Python environment is affected by CVE-2021-38598, inspect your installed packages using pip:

pip show neutron

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Neutron in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 16.4.1), your application is affected.

Note: The pip show neutron command checks currently installed packages in your active Python environment.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-863: Incorrect Authorization, where the product performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action, but it does not correctly perform the check. In Neutron, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

OpenStack Neutron before 16.4.1, 17.x before 17.1.3, and 18.0.0 allows hardware address impersonation when the linuxbridge driver with ebtables-nft is used on a Netfilter-based platform. By sending carefully crafted packets, anyone in control of a server instance connected to the virtual switch can impersonate the hardware addresses of other systems on the network, resulting in denial of service or in some cases possibly interception of traffic intended for other destinations.

CVE-2021-38598 Affected Neutron Versions

3 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
16.4.117.1.3
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
neutron
PyPI
< 16.4.1
16.4.1
neutron
PyPI
≥ 17.0.0
< 17.1.3
17.1.3
neutron
PyPI
18.0.0
All 1 versions
18.0.0
None specified

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2021-38598?
CVE-2021-38598 is a security vulnerability in Neutron involving OpenStack Neutron vulnerable to hardware address impersonation under CWE-863: Incorrect Authorization.
Which Neutron versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 16.4.1, 17.1.3 across affected packages: neutron.
What version fixes CVE-2021-38598?
Upgrading to 16.4.1, 17.1.3 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is neutron affected?
Yes, neutron is affected in releases prior to 16.4.1, 17.1.3, Latest secure release. Upgrade your dependency to 16.4.1, 17.1.3, Latest secure release or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2021-38598?
CVE-2021-38598 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.1 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2021-38598?
CVE-2021-38598 is classified under CWE-863: Incorrect Authorization (The product performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action, but it does not correctly perform the check.).
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2021-38598?
Run the dependency tree command: 'pip show neutron'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-hvm4-mc7m-22w4",
  "modified" : "2024-10-03T21:25:51Z",
  "published" : "2022-05-24T19:11:58Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2021-38598" ],
  "summary" : "OpenStack Neutron vulnerable to hardware address impersonation",
  "details" : "OpenStack Neutron before 16.4.1, 17.x before 17.1.3, and 18.0.0 allows hardware address impersonation when the linuxbridge driver with ebtables-nft is used on a Netfilter-based platform. By sending carefully crafted packets, anyone in control of a server instance connected to the virtual switch can impersonate the hardware addresses of other systems on the network, resulting in denial of service or in some cases possibly interception of traffic intended for other destinations.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H"
  }, {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "neutron"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "16.4.1"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "neutron"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "17.0.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "17.1.3"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "neutron"
    },
    "versions" : [ "18.0.0" ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-38598"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/openstack/neutron/commit/0a931391d8990f3e654b4bfda24ae4119c609bbf"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/openstack/neutron/commit/cc0d28a3e2ccfad6fc2ff24d78f009cbe3992575"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/openstack/neutron"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/neutron/PYSEC-2021-360.yaml"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://launchpad.net/bugs/1938670"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://opendev.org/openstack/neutron/commit/fafa5dacd5057120562184a734e7345e7c0e9639"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-863" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2024-02-23T21:31:08Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2021-08-23T05:15:00Z"
  }
}