CVE-2025-22828
📋 TL;DR
Apache CloudStack versions from 4.16.0 have an access validation flaw that allows authenticated users with knowledge of resource UUIDs to read or add comments (annotations) on those resources. This could lead to information disclosure if comments contain sensitive data. The vulnerability requires authenticated access and UUID knowledge, making exploitation difficult.
💻 Affected Systems
- Apache CloudStack
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
An attacker with user credentials and knowledge of resource UUIDs could read sensitive information from comments or inject malicious annotations, potentially revealing confidential CloudStack environment details.
Likely Case
Limited information disclosure from comments, as guessing resource UUIDs is difficult and most comments likely contain non-sensitive operational information.
If Mitigated
Minimal impact if proper access controls are implemented or if comments contain no sensitive information.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires authenticated user access AND knowledge of specific resource UUIDs, which are difficult to guess or brute-force.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Check Apache CloudStack security advisory for specific patched version
Vendor Advisory: https://lists.apache.org/thread/bbsm9fdwrgfyostzojh6ghpocgdmx8rs
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Check current CloudStack version. 2. Apply the latest security patch from Apache CloudStack. 3. Restart CloudStack services. 4. Verify the fix by testing annotation access controls.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Restrict annotation API access
allDisable listAnnotations and addAnnotation API access for non-admin roles
Configure role-based access control in CloudStack to restrict annotation APIs to admin users only
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict access controls to limit which users can access annotation APIs
- Audit and remove any sensitive information from existing resource comments
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check if CloudStack version is 4.16.0 or later and test if non-admin users can access listAnnotations/addAnnotation APIs with known resource UUIDsCheck Version:
cloudstack-management --versionVerify Fix Applied:
After patching, verify that non-admin users cannot list or add annotations to resources they shouldn't access📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual annotation API calls from non-admin users
- Multiple failed annotation access attempts
Network Indicators:
- Increased API calls to listAnnotations or addAnnotation endpoints
SIEM Query:
source="cloudstack" AND (api_call="listAnnotations" OR api_call="addAnnotation") AND user_role!="admin"