CVE-2016-2785: Puppet Puppet Improper Access Control Vulnerability

CRITICAL
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-pqj5-7r86-64fv
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CVSS 9.8
CWE-284
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2016-2785 is a CRITICAL (CVSS 9.8) puppet improper access control vulnerability (CWE-284: Improper Access Control) affecting Puppet libraries in the RubyGems ecosystem. The issue involves puppet improper access control. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 4.4.2.

CVE-2016-2785 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2016-2785
GHSA Identifier GHSA-pqj5-7r86-64fv
Severity CRITICAL
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 9.8
CWE Classification CWE-284: Improper Access Control
Affected Product Puppet
Package Ecosystem RubyGems
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 9.8

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:H/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 High (C:H)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2016-2785

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

puppet fixed: 4.4.2 
Upgrade puppet to 4.4.2
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

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

inspect dependencies for puppet

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2016-2785, inspect your project dependencies for Puppet:

inspect dependencies for puppet

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Puppet in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 4.4.2), your application is affected.

Note: Verify declared build manifests and deployed runtime container environments.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-284: Improper Access Control, where the product does not restrict or incorrectly restricts access to a resource from an unauthorized actor. In Puppet, 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

Puppet Server before 2.3.2 and Ruby puppetmaster in Puppet 4.x before 4.4.2 and in Puppet Agent before 1.4.2 might allow remote attackers to bypass intended auth.conf access restrictions by leveraging incorrect URL decoding.

CVE-2016-2785 Affected Puppet Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
4.4.2
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
puppet
gem/puppet
RubyGems
≥ 4.0.0
< 4.4.2
4.4.2

References

NVD — CVE-2016-2785 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-2785
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/puppetlabs/puppet/commit/6592a8166572e5f1b7d058474059b8519ec81387
Puppet Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/puppetlabs/puppet
Puppet Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/puppetlabs/puppet/commits/4.4.2
Puppet Security Information SECURITY
https://puppet.com/security/cve/cve-2016-2785
Puppet Security Information SECURITY
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201606-02

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2016-2785?
CVE-2016-2785 is a security vulnerability in Puppet involving Puppet Improper Access Control under CWE-284: Improper Access Control.
Which Puppet versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 4.4.2 across affected packages: puppet.
What version fixes CVE-2016-2785?
Upgrading to 4.4.2 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is puppet affected?
Yes, puppet is affected in releases prior to 4.4.2. Upgrade your dependency to 4.4.2 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2016-2785?
CVE-2016-2785 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2016-2785?
CVE-2016-2785 is classified under CWE-284: Improper Access Control (The product does not restrict or incorrectly restricts access to a resource from an unauthorized actor.).
How can I check RubyGems dependencies for CVE-2016-2785?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for puppet'. 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
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-pqj5-7r86-64fv",
  "modified" : "2023-11-22T21:39:47Z",
  "published" : "2022-05-13T01:06:16Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2016-2785" ],
  "summary" : "Puppet Improper Access Control",
  "details" : "Puppet Server before 2.3.2 and Ruby puppetmaster in Puppet 4.x before 4.4.2 and in Puppet Agent before 1.4.2 might allow remote attackers to bypass intended auth.conf access restrictions by leveraging incorrect URL decoding.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "RubyGems",
      "name" : "puppet"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "4.0.0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "4.4.2"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-2785"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/puppetlabs/puppet/commit/6592a8166572e5f1b7d058474059b8519ec81387"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/puppetlabs/puppet"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/puppetlabs/puppet/commits/4.4.2"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://puppet.com/security/cve/cve-2016-2785"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201606-02"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-284" ],
    "severity" : "CRITICAL",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2023-07-28T19:59:23Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2016-06-10T15:59:00Z"
  }
}