CVE-2021-33924
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2021-33924 is an incorrect access control vulnerability in Confluent's cp-ansible automation tool that allows remote attackers to access sensitive information without authentication. This affects organizations using vulnerable versions of cp-ansible to deploy or manage Confluent Platform components. The vulnerability resides in an auxiliary component that improperly handles access controls.
💻 Affected Systems
- Confluent cp-ansible
📦 What is this software?
Ansible by Confluent
Ansible by Confluent
Ansible by Confluent
Ansible by Confluent
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could exfiltrate sensitive configuration data, credentials, or deployment secrets, potentially compromising entire Confluent Platform deployments and connected systems.
Likely Case
Unauthenticated attackers accessing exposed cp-ansible auxiliary endpoints to obtain sensitive deployment information and configuration details.
If Mitigated
Limited to authenticated users only, with proper network segmentation preventing external access to cp-ansible management interfaces.
🎯 Exploit Status
The vulnerability allows unauthenticated access to sensitive endpoints, making exploitation straightforward for attackers who can reach the vulnerable component.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 6.0.1 and later, 5.5.3 and later
Vendor Advisory: https://confluent.io
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Upgrade cp-ansible to version 6.0.1 or later, or 5.5.3 or later. 2. Update your Ansible playbooks to use the patched version. 3. Verify the auxiliary component no longer exposes sensitive information without proper authentication.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Network Segmentation
linuxRestrict network access to cp-ansible management interfaces to trusted IPs only
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport [cp-ansible-port] -s [trusted-network] -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport [cp-ansible-port] -j DROP
Access Control Lists
allImplement application-level access controls to restrict unauthorized access to auxiliary endpoints
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict network segmentation to isolate cp-ansible management interfaces from untrusted networks
- Monitor and audit access to cp-ansible auxiliary endpoints for suspicious activity
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check cp-ansible version using: ansible --version | grep cp-ansible. If version is 5.5.0-5.5.2 or 6.0.0, the system is vulnerable.Check Version:
ansible --version | grep cp-ansibleVerify Fix Applied:
After patching, verify version is 5.5.3+ or 6.0.1+. Test that unauthenticated requests to auxiliary endpoints return proper access denied responses.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unauthenticated access attempts to cp-ansible auxiliary endpoints
- Unusual request patterns to cp-ansible management interfaces
Network Indicators:
- External IPs accessing cp-ansible management ports
- Unusual data transfers from cp-ansible hosts
SIEM Query:
source="cp-ansible.log" AND (status="200" OR status="401") AND user="-" AND uri CONTAINS "/auxiliary/"