dbcve.org
NovaApplication · Openstack

CVE-2015-0259

MEDIUM · 5.1 CVSS v2.0 Published 2015-04-01
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2014.1.4 / 2014.2.3 or later.
See remediation →
60/100
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
OpenStack Compute (Nova) before 2014.1.4, 2014.2.x before 2014.2.3, and kilo before kilo-3 does not validate the origin of websocket requests, which allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of users for access to consoles via a crafted webpage.

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 Nova fails to validate the Origin header on WebSocket requests for console connections, enabling cross-site WebSocket hijacking (CSWSH). An attacker can embed malicious code on a webpage that, when visited by an authenticated Nova user, forces the user's browser to establish a WebSocket connection to the Nova console endpoint, hijacking the session.

MitigationUpgrade Nova to version 2014.1.4, 2014.2.3, kilo-3 or later which implement proper Origin validation for WebSocket console requests.

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
NovaApplication
Affected:>= 2014.1, < 2014.1.4>= 2014.2, < 2014.2.3= 2015.1.0

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
High
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Partial
Integrity
Partial
Availability
Partial

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

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. Determine installed Nova version
    Run 'nova-manage --version' or check via package manager (e.g., 'pip show python-nova' or 'rpm -q openstack-nova')
    Affected if Version is >= 2014.1 but < 2014.1.4, OR >= 2014.2 but < 2014.2.3, OR exactly 2015.1.0
  2. Check if Nova console WebSocket is enabled
    Inspect nova.conf for the [console] section and verify 'enabled = True' or check for novncproxy or serial console configuration being active
    Affected if Console access via WebSocket (novnc or serial proxy) is enabled in Nova configuration
  3. Verify console authentication service is running
    Check that nova-consoleauth service is running (e.g., 'service nova-consoleauth status' or 'ps aux | grep nova-consoleauth')
    Affected if The console authentication service is operational, enabling WebSocket console connections

If the Nova version is in the affected range and console WebSocket access is enabled, the environment is vulnerable to cross-site WebSocket hijacking due to missing Origin header validation.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 2014.1.4 / 2014.2.3 or later
Fixed in 2014.1.42014.2.3
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Nova to version 2014.1.4, 2014.2.3, kilo-3 or later which implement proper Origin validation for WebSocket console requests.

Fix this in Nova Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-0259 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2015-0259 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data