CVE-2016-2787
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 · uneditedThe Puppet Communications Protocol in Puppet Enterprise 2015.3.x before 2015.3.3 does not properly validate certificates for the broker node, which allows remote non-whitelisted hosts to prevent runs from triggering 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 confidencePuppet Enterprise 2015.3.x before 2015.3.3 has a certificate validation flaw in the Puppet Communications Protocol. The broker node's certificate is not properly validated, allowing remote attackers not on the whitelist to interfere with Puppet run triggering. This is a security control bypass vulnerability in the PKI infrastructure.
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= 2015.3.2= 2015.3CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- Low
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
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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Identify Puppet Enterprise versionRun puppet --version or check the installed package version using your system package manager (e.g., rpm -q puppet-enterprise, dpkg -l puppet-enterprise)Affected if The installed version is 2015.3, 2015.3.1, or 2015.3.2 (any version before 2015.3.3)
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Confirm Puppet Communications Protocol broker is in useCheck if the Puppet Communications Protocol (PCP) broker component is enabled in your Puppet Enterprise configuration. Inspect the pe-pcp-broker service status and configuration files in /etc/puppetlabs/pcp-broker/ or the equivalent configuration directory.Affected if The PCP broker component is deployed and active in your environment
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Examine broker certificate validation settingsInspect the PCP broker configuration for certificate validation settings. Look for ssl or certificate validation parameters in the broker configuration file (typically found in /etc/puppetlabs/pcp-broker/conf.d/ or similar location).Affected if Certificate validation for broker nodes is disabled, misconfigured, or the configuration lacks proper validation checks
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Review agent-to-broker communicationCheck the puppet agent configuration and PCP broker association in /etc/puppetlabs/puppet/csr_attributes.yaml or agent configuration to verify which broker(s) the agent communicates with.Affected if Agents are configured to communicate with a broker without proper certificate verification enabled
You are affected if you are running Puppet Enterprise 2015.3, 2015.3.1, or 2015.3.2 with the Puppet Communications Protocol broker component enabled and certificate validation is not properly enforced.
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 version 2015.3.3 or later, which contains proper certificate validation for broker nodes in the Puppet Communications Protocol.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-2787 — 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-2016-2787 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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