CVE-2013-2167
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2013-2167 is a memcache signing bypass vulnerability in python-keystoneclient middleware that allows attackers to bypass authentication mechanisms in OpenStack Identity Service. This affects systems using python-keystoneclient versions 0.2.3 through 0.2.5 for memcache token storage. Attackers can potentially gain unauthorized access to OpenStack cloud resources.
💻 Affected Systems
- python-keystoneclient
- OpenStack Identity Service (Keystone)
📦 What is this software?
Openstack by Redhat
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete compromise of OpenStack cloud infrastructure allowing unauthorized access to all resources, data exfiltration, and privilege escalation across the entire cloud environment.
Likely Case
Unauthorized access to cloud resources, potential data leakage, and privilege escalation within the affected OpenStack deployment.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper network segmentation, minimal exposure of keystone endpoints, and strong authentication controls in place.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires network access to the keystone service and knowledge of the vulnerability. Public exploit code and detailed analysis were published in security advisories.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: python-keystoneclient 0.2.6 and later
Vendor Advisory: http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2013-0992.html
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Update python-keystoneclient to version 0.2.6 or later using your package manager. 2. For Red Hat systems: 'yum update python-keystoneclient'. 3. Restart the keystone service: 'systemctl restart openstack-keystone' or equivalent. 4. Verify the update with 'keystone --version'.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable memcache token backend
linuxSwitch from memcache to SQL or PKI token backend to avoid the vulnerable code path
Edit /etc/keystone/keystone.conf
Change 'driver = keystone.token.backends.sql.Token' or 'driver = keystone.token.backends.pki.Token'
Restart keystone service
Network isolation
linuxRestrict network access to keystone memcache port (default 11211)
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 11211 -j DROP
iptables -A INPUT -p udp --dport 11211 -j DROP
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict network access controls to limit exposure of keystone and memcache services
- Migrate to SQL or PKI token backend instead of memcache
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check python-keystoneclient version: 'python -c "import keystoneclient; print(keystoneclient.__version__)"' and verify if between 0.2.3 and 0.2.5Check Version:
python -c "import keystoneclient; print(keystoneclient.__version__)" or 'rpm -q python-keystoneclient' or 'dpkg -l python-keystoneclient'Verify Fix Applied:
Confirm version is 0.2.6 or later: 'python -c "import keystoneclient; print(keystoneclient.__version__)"' and test authentication functionality📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual authentication patterns in keystone logs
- Failed authentication attempts followed by successful access from same source
- Memcache connection attempts from unauthorized sources
Network Indicators:
- Unusual traffic to memcache port 11211
- Authentication bypass attempts to keystone API endpoints
SIEM Query:
source="keystone.log" AND ("authentication failure" NEAR "success" OR "token validation failed" NEAR "access granted")🔗 References
- http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2013-August/113944.html
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2013-0992.html
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2013/06/19/5
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/60680
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2013-2167
- https://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2013-2167
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2013-2167
- https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/85492
- https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2013-2167
- http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/package-announce/2013-August/113944.html
- http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2013-0992.html
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2013/06/19/5
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/60680
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2013-2167
- https://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2013-2167
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2013-2167
- https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/85492
- https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2013-2167
