CVE-2015-4100
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 · uneditedPuppet Enterprise 3.7.x and 3.8.0 might allow remote authenticated users to manage certificates for arbitrary nodes by leveraging a client certificate trusted by the master, aka a "Certificate Authority Reverse Proxy Vulnerability."
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 confidencePuppet Enterprise 3.7.x and 3.8.0 contains a Certificate Authority Reverse Proxy Vulnerability that allows remote authenticated users to manage certificates for arbitrary nodes by leveraging a client certificate that is already trusted by the master. An attacker with a valid trusted client certificate can impersonate other nodes by manipulating the certificate management functionality.
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>= 3.7.0, <= 3.7.2= 3.8.0CVSS 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
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:H
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check if Puppet Enterprise is installedRun `puppet --version` or examine the installed packages for puppet-enterprise. For Linux systems, check `/opt/puppetlabs/server/bin/puppet` or use package manager commands like `rpm -qa | grep puppet` or `dpkg -l | grep puppet`. On Windows, check installed programs or registry.Affected if Puppet Enterprise is found installed on the system
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Verify the exact Puppet Enterprise versionRun `puppet --version` or check the version file typically located in `/opt/puppetlabs/server` or inspect the installed puppet-enterprise package details using the system package manager.Affected if The version is 3.7.0, 3.7.1, 3.7.2, or 3.8.0 exactly
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Confirm the CA proxy feature is in useInspect the Puppet Enterprise configuration for certificate authority proxy settings. Check for configuration files in `/etc/puppetlabs/puppet` or the PE console settings that enable CA certificate proxy functionality. Look for entries related to certificate_authority_proxy or similar CA proxy configuration.Affected if CA proxy or certificate management endpoints are exposed and accessible to trusted client certificates
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Identify trusted client certificatesExamine the Puppet CA certificate store, typically in `/etc/puppetlabs/puppet/ssl` or via `puppet cert list --all`. Check which client certificates are signed and trusted by the Puppet Master.Affected if There are trusted client certificates present that could be leveraged to impersonate other nodes through certificate manipulation
You are affected if Puppet Enterprise version 3.7.0 through 3.7.2 or 3.8.0 is installed and the CA proxy functionality is accessible to authenticated users with trusted client certificates.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataUpgrade Puppet Enterprise to a patched version (3.8.1 or later), or restrict trusted client certificates and implement additional access controls on the certificate management endpoints to prevent unauthorized certificate manipulation.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-4100 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2015-4100 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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