CVE-2025-2598: Aws cdk AWS CDK CLI Prints AWS Vulnerability

{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-v63m-x9r9-8gqp",
  "modified" : "2025-10-14T21:58:44Z",
  "published" : "2025-03-21T17:43:09Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2025-2598" ],
  "summary" : "AWS CDK CLI prints AWS credentials retrieved by custom credential plugins",
  "details" : "## Summary\n\nThe AWS Cloud Development Kit (AWS CDK) [1] is an open-source software development framework for defining cloud infrastructure in code and provisioning it through AWS CloudFormation. The AWS CDK CLI [2] is a command line tool for interacting with CDK applications. Customers can use the CDK CLI to create, manage, and deploy their AWS CDK projects. \n\nAn issue exists in the AWS CDK CLI where, under certain conditions, AWS credentials may be returned in the console output. Plugins that return an `expiration `property in the credentials object are affected by this issue. Plugins that omit the `expiration` property are not affected. \n\n## Impact\n\nWhen customers run AWS CDK CLI commands with credential plugins and configure those plugins to return temporary credentials by including an `expiration` property, the AWS credentials retrieved by the plugin may be returned in the console output. Any user with access where the CDK CLI was ran would have access to this output. \n\nThe following are examples of configuring a custom credential plugin: \n\n_Via command line option:_\n\n`cdk deploy --plugin /path/to/plugin`\n\n_Via configuration file [3]:_\n\n```json\n{\n  \"plugin\": \"/path/to/plugin\"\n}\n```\n\nPlugins that return an `expiration` property in the credentials object, such as the following example, are affected:\n\n```console\nreturn {\n    accessKeyId: '<access-key>',\n    secretAccessKey: '<secret-access-key>',\n    sessionToken: '<session-token>',\n    expiration: <date>,\n};\n```\n\nThe `expiration` property indicates that the provided credentials are temporary. \n\nPlease refer to our \"AWS CDK CLI Library\" guide for more information about custom credential plugins [4].\n\n## Impacted versions:  >=2.172.0 and <2.178.2\n\n## Patches\n\nThe issue has been addressed in version 2.178.2 [5]. We recommend upgrading to the latest version and ensuring any forked or derivative code is patched to incorporate the new fixes. \n\n## Workarounds\n\nIf you are unable to upgrade to version 2.178.2 or later, you can downgrade to version 2.171.1. If you are unable to downgrade, but have access to the code of the credential plugin you use, you can remove the `expiration` property from the object returned by the plugin.\n\nFor example, change the code from returning this:\n\n```javascript\nreturn {\n    accessKeyId: assumeRoleOutput.Credentials.AccessKeyId,\n    secretAccessKey: assumeRoleOutput.Credentials.SecretAccessKey,\n    sessionToken: assumeRoleOutput.Credentials.SessionToken,\n\n    // Expiration indicates to the CLI that this is temporary\n    expiration: assumeRoleOutput.Credentials.Expiration,\n};\n```\n\nTo return this:\n\n```javascript\nreturn {\n    accessKeyId: assumeRoleOutput.Credentials.AccessKeyId,\n    secretAccessKey: assumeRoleOutput.Credentials.SecretAccessKey,\n    sessionToken: assumeRoleOutput.Credentials.SessionToken,\n};\n```\n\nNote that this will prevent the CDK CLI from refreshing the credentials when needed, and may cause your workflow to fail on an expired credentials error. \n\n## References\n\n[1] https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cdk/v2/guide/home.html\n\n[2] https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cdk/v2/guide/cli.html\n\n[3] https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cdk/v2/guide/cli.html#cli-config\n\n[4] https://www.npmjs.com/package/@aws-cdk/cli-plugin-contract\n\n[5] https://github.com/aws/aws-cdk/releases/tag/v2.178.2",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N"
  }, {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "npm",
      "name" : "aws-cdk"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "2.172.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2.178.2"
      } ]
    } ]
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "npm",
      "name" : "cdk"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "2.172.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2.178.2"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/aws/aws-cdk/security/advisories/GHSA-v63m-x9r9-8gqp"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-2598"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://aws.amazon.com/security/security-bulletins/AWS-2025-005"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/aws/aws-cdk"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/aws/aws-cdk/releases/tag/v2.178.2"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-497" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2025-03-21T17:43:09Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2025-03-21T15:15:43Z"
  }
}