Puppet EnterpriseApplication · Puppet

CVE-2015-8470

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-12-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2015.2.3 or later.
See remediation →
72/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges

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 console in Puppet Enterprise 3.7.x, 3.8.x, and 2015.2.x does not set the secure flag for the JSESSIONID cookie in an HTTPS session, which makes it easier for remote attackers to capture this cookie by intercepting its transmission within an HTTP session.

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 Enterprise console fails to set the 'secure' flag on the JSESSIONID cookie during HTTPS sessions. Without this flag, browsers may transmit the session cookie over insecure HTTP connections, enabling attackers on the network path to intercept and hijack user sessions.

MitigationConfigure the application server or web server underlying the Puppet Enterprise console to set the 'Secure' attribute on the JSESSIONID cookie, ensuring the browser only transmits it over encrypted HTTPS connections.

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
Puppet EnterpriseApplication
Affected:>= 3.7.0, <= 3.7.2>= 3.8.0, <= 3.8.6>= 2015.2.0, <= 2015.2.3

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
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/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 Puppet Enterprise version
    Run `puppet --version` or check the PE version file at `/opt/puppetlabs/puppet/var/state/enterprise_version`
    Affected if The installed version falls within 3.7.0-3.7.2, 3.8.0-3.8.6, or 2015.2.0-2015.2.3
  2. Verify HTTPS is enabled for the console
    Check the console configuration file (typically in `/etc/puppetlabs/console-services/conf.d/` or inspect the console-ssl configuration) for HTTPS/SSL settings
    Affected if HTTPS is enabled and the console is accessible over HTTPS
  3. Inspect JSESSIONID cookie configuration
    Access the Puppet Enterprise console over HTTPS using a browser, open developer tools (F12), go to the Application/Storage tab, find the JSESSIONID cookie, and examine its attributes. Alternatively, check the underlying application server (typically Tomcat) configuration for the session cookie settings in the relevant context XML or server configuration files
    Affected if The JSESSIONID cookie exists but does NOT have the 'Secure' flag set, meaning it could be transmitted over HTTP

A user is affected if they run a vulnerable Puppet Enterprise version (3.7.x, 3.8.x, or 2015.2.x within the specified ranges) with HTTPS enabled but the JSESSIONID cookie lacks the Secure flag, allowing potential session hijacking over insecure connections.

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 a release after 2015.2.3
Interim mitigation

Configure the application server or web server underlying the Puppet Enterprise console to set the 'Secure' attribute on the JSESSIONID cookie, ensuring the browser only transmits it over encrypted HTTPS connections.

Fix this in Puppet Enterprise Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,090
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,744.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-8470 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2015-8470 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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