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KeystoneApplication · Openstack

CVE-2014-2828

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v2.0 Published 2014-04-15
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
87/100
Remediation priority · High
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 V3 API in OpenStack Identity (Keystone) 2013.1 before 2013.2.4 and icehouse before icehouse-rc2 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) via a large number of the same authentication method in a request, aka "authentication chaining."

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

The Keystone V3 API in OpenStack Identity allows remote attackers to cause denial of service by sending requests containing a large number of identical authentication methods. This causes excessive CPU consumption on the server, effectively rendering the service unavailable.

MitigationUpgrade Keystone to version 2013.2.4 or later, or icehouse-rc2 or later. Alternatively, implement rate limiting on the Keystone API endpoints to restrict the number of authentication methods per request.

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= 2013.2= 2013.2.1= 2013.2.2= 2013.2.3

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
None
Availability
Complete

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

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 installed Keystone version
    Run 'keystone --version' or check the package manager output (dpkg -l python-keystoneclient, rpm -q python-keystoneclient)
    Affected if The version matches any of: 2013.1, 2013.1.1, 2013.1.2, 2013.1.3, 2013.2, 2013.2.1, 2013.2.2, or 2013.2.3
  2. Confirm Keystone V3 API is enabled
    Inspect /etc/keystone/keystone.conf for the enable_api_v3 option, or query the API endpoint at /v3/ to verify it responds
    Affected if The V3 API endpoint is enabled and accessible (returns a valid response instead of 404)
  3. Check Keystone API network exposure
    Review firewall rules (iptables -L, ufw status) or load balancer configuration to determine if port 5000 or the Keystone API is exposed to untrusted networks
    Affected if The Keystone API is reachable from networks outside the trusted administrative environment

You are affected if your installed Keystone version is 2013.1 through 2013.2.3 AND the V3 API is enabled and reachable from your network.

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 2013.2.4 or later, or icehouse-rc2 or later. Alternatively, implement rate limiting on the Keystone API endpoints to restrict the number of authentication methods per request.

Fix this in Keystone Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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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-2014-2828 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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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