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Puppet AgentApplication · Puppet

CVE-2016-2786

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2016-06-10
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
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 pxp-agent component in Puppet Enterprise 2015.3.x before 2015.3.3 and Puppet Agent 1.3.x before 1.3.6 does not properly validate server certificates, which might allow remote attackers to spoof brokers and execute arbitrary commands via a crafted certificate.

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 pxp-agent component in Puppet Enterprise 2015.3.x before 2015.3.3 and Puppet Agent 1.3.x before 1.3.6 fails to properly validate SSL/TLS server certificates, allowing remote attackers to perform man-in-the-middle attacks by spoofing the broker. Successful exploitation enables arbitrary command execution on managed nodes via crafted certificates.

MitigationUpgrade Puppet Enterprise to 2015.3.3 or later, and Puppet Agent to 1.3.6 or later, to ensure proper server certificate validation is enforced.

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 AgentApplication
Affected:= 1.3.0= 1.3.1= 1.3.2= 1.3.4= 1.3.5
Puppet EnterpriseApplication
Affected:= 2015.3.0= 2015.3.2

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
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify pxp-agent is installed
    Run 'pxp-agent --version' or check for pxp-agent service/process: 'ps aux | grep pxp-agent' or on Windows 'Get-Service pxp-agent'
    Affected if pxp-agent is not installed or not running, then the vulnerability does not apply
  2. Check Puppet Agent version
    Run 'puppet --version' or 'puppet agent --version'
    Affected if Version equals 1.3.0, 1.3.1, 1.3.2, 1.3.4, or 1.3.5 - these are the vulnerable versions
  3. Check Puppet Enterprise version
    Run 'puppetserver --version' or check installation directory for version file, or inspect '/etc/puppetlabs/puppetserver/conf.d/pe.conf'
    Affected if Version equals 2015.3.0 or 2015.3.2 - these are the vulnerable versions
  4. Verify SSL/TLS certificate validation configuration
    Inspect pxp-agent configuration file at '/etc/puppetlabs/pxp-agent/pxp-agent.conf' (Linux) or similar location under 'C:\ProgramData\PuppetLabs\pxp-agent\conf' (Windows). Look for 'ssl' or 'certificate-validation' settings
    Affected if Certificate validation is disabled, missing, or set to false - the flaw only manifests when validation is improperly configured

The environment is affected if pxp-agent is running AND the installed Puppet Agent version is 1.3.0-1.3.5 (excluding 1.3.3 and 1.3.6+) OR Puppet Enterprise version is 2015.3.0 or 2015.3.2, with SSL certificate validation disabled or misconfigured.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade Puppet Enterprise to 2015.3.3 or later, and Puppet Agent to 1.3.6 or later, to ensure proper server certificate validation is enforced.

Recommended fix High confidence

Puppet Agent: upgrade to >= 1.3.6 | Puppet Enterprise: upgrade to >= 2015.3.3

  1. Identify currently installed Puppet Agent or Puppet Enterprise version using 'puppet --version' or by checking the PE console
  2. For Puppet Agent: Upgrade to version 1.3.6 or later by running the appropriate package manager update (e.g., 'puppet-agent' package)
  3. For Puppet Enterprise: Upgrade to version 2015.3.3 or later using the PE upgrade documentation
  4. After upgrade, verify the pxp-agent service is running correctly and certificate validation is functioning
Caveat Upgrading minor versions within the same major release line typically has low risk, but test in non-production first

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

Fix this in Puppet Agent Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
30.0 hours of engineering $5,280
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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-2016-2786 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