KeystoneApplication · Openstack

CVE-2014-2237

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2014-04-01
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
59/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The memcache token backend in OpenStack Identity (Keystone) 2013.1 through 2.013.1.4, 2013.2 through 2013.2.2, and icehouse before icehouse-3, when issuing a trust token with impersonation enabled, does not include this token in the trustee's token-index-list, which prevents the token from being invalidated by bulk token revocation and allows the trustee to bypass intended access restrictions.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

OpenStack Keystone's memcache token backend fails to add trust tokens (issued with impersonation enabled) to the trustee's token-index-list, preventing bulk token revocation from invalidating these tokens and allowing trustees to bypass intended access restrictions.

MitigationUpgrade Keystone to version icehouse-3 or later. Until then, disable trust token impersonation or implement alternative token revocation mechanisms for trust tokens.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
KeystoneApplication
Affected:= 2013.1= 2013.1.1= 2013.1.2= 2013.1.3= 2013.1.4= 2013.2.2

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
Partial
Availability
None

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify Keystone version
    Run 'keystone --version' or check the installed package version (e.g., rpm -q keystone, dpkg -l python-keystoneclient)
    Affected if The installed version is 2013.1, 2013.1.1, 2013.1.2, 2013.1.3, 2013.1.4, or 2013.2.2
  2. Verify memcache token backend is in use
    Inspect /etc/keystone/keystone.conf and look for the [token] section; check if 'driver = keystone.token.backends.memcache' is set
    Affected if The token driver is set to memcache (or keystone.token.backends.memcache)
  3. Confirm trust impersonation is enabled
    Check existing trusts via the Keystone API: 'keystone trust-list' or inspect trust objects for the 'impersonation' flag set to true
    Affected if Trusts exist with impersonation=True, and these trusts generate tokens that bypass revocation

You are affected if you run a vulnerable Keystone version (2013.1.x or 2013.2.2), use the memcache token backend, and have trust tokens with impersonation enabled, as these tokens will not be invalidated during bulk revocation.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade Keystone to version icehouse-3 or later. Until then, disable trust token impersonation or implement alternative token revocation mechanisms for trust tokens.

Fix this in Keystone Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
21.0 hours of engineering $3,680
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2014-2237 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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