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OpenstackApplication · Redhat

CVE-2015-1842

HIGH · 10.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2015-04-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 6.0 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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 puppet manifests in the Red Hat openstack-puppet-modules package before 2014.2.13-2 uses a default password of CHANGEME for the pcsd daemon, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary shell commands via unspecified vectors.

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 puppet manifests in Red Hat's openstack-puppet-modules package before version 2014.2.13-2 contain a hardcoded default password 'CHANGEME' for the pcsd (Pacemaker/Corosync) daemon. Attackers with network access to systems running this configuration can authenticate using these default credentials to execute arbitrary shell commands on affected hosts.

MitigationUpdate the openstack-puppet-modules package to version 2014.2.13-2 or later, and immediately change the default pcsd password from 'CHANGEME' to a strong, unique password across all affected systems.

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
OpenstackApplication
Affected:<= 6.0

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
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/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 openstack-puppet-modules package version
    Run 'rpm -qa | grep openstack-puppet-modules' or 'dpkg -l | grep openstack-puppet-modules' depending on your package manager, then check the installed version against the vulnerable range (before 2014.2.13-2)
    Affected if The package version is earlier than 2014.2.13-2 or the package is not found but pcsd is in use
  2. Verify pcsd service presence and configuration
    Check if pcsd service exists by running 'systemctl list-units | grep pcsd' or 'service pcsd status' and locate its configuration files typically under /etc/pcsd/ or within puppet manifest directories
    Affected if The pcsd service is installed and configured in the environment
  3. Search for hardcoded CHANGEME password
    Grep for the string 'CHANGEME' in puppet manifest files under /usr/share/openstack-puppet/ or /etc/puppet/modules/, and check pcsd configuration files in /etc/pcsd/
    Affected if The string 'CHANGEME' is found in any pcsd-related configuration or puppet manifests
  4. Inspect pcsd authentication configuration
    Review /etc/pcsd/pcsd.conf or authenticated user files for pcsd, checking whether the password matches the default 'CHANGEME' value
    Affected if The pcsd password is set to 'CHANGEME' or the password field is using a default value

Your environment is affected if openstack-puppet-modules is installed at a version earlier than 2014.2.13-2 AND pcsd is configured with the hardcoded 'CHANGEME' password.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 6.0
Interim mitigation

Update the openstack-puppet-modules package to version 2014.2.13-2 or later, and immediately change the default pcsd password from 'CHANGEME' to a strong, unique password across all affected systems.

Recommended fix High confidence

openstack-puppet-modules version 2014.2.13-2 or later

  1. Check the current version of the openstack-puppet-modules package installed: rpm -q openstack-puppet-modules
  2. Update the package to version 2014.2.13-2 or later using the appropriate package manager (e.g., yum update openstack-puppet-modules)
  3. After updating, ensure the pcsd daemon configuration is regenerated with a strong, unique password rather than the default CHANGEME
  4. Restart the pcsd service to apply the new configuration: systemctl restart pcsd
  5. Verify the new password is properly set in the configuration and is not the default CHANGEME
Caveat Review Red Hat OpenStack platform release notes for any compatibility notes when upgrading puppet-modules between major versions

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Openstack Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2015-1842 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data