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Quickstart Cloud InstallerApplication · Redhat

CVE-2016-5411

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-06-13
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
/var/lib/ovirt-engine/setup/engine-DC-config.py in Red Hat QuickStart Cloud Installer (QCI) before 1.0 GA is created world readable and contains the root password of the deployed system.

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 QuickStart Cloud Installer creates a configuration script at /var/lib/ovirt-engine/setup/engine-DC-config.py with world-readable permissions (0644). This file contains the plaintext root password for the deployed system, allowing any local user to obtain full administrative access to the system.

MitigationImmediately change file permissions to restrict access (chmod 600) and rotate all exposed credentials. Upgrade to QCI 1.0 GA or later, and audit for similar world-readable files containing sensitive data.

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
Quickstart Cloud InstallerApplication
Affected:= 0.9

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:3.0/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. Check if the vulnerable configuration file exists
    Run: ls -la /var/lib/ovirt-engine/setup/engine-DC-config.py
    Affected if The file exists at this path (vulnerable if permissions are also world-readable)
  2. Verify file permissions are world-readable
    Run: stat -c '%a' /var/lib/ovirt-engine/setup/engine-DC-config.py
    Affected if Permissions are 0644 (world-readable) - any local user can read it
  3. Confirm the file contains plaintext credentials
    Run: grep -i 'password\|root' /var/lib/ovirt-engine/setup/engine-DC-config.py 2>/dev/null | head -20
    Affected if The file contains plaintext root password or other sensitive credentials
  4. Check installed version of QuickStart Cloud Installer
    Run: rpm -q redhat-qci-setup or check /var/lib/ovirt-engine/setup/ for version indicators
    Affected if Version is 0.9 (the affected version)

You are affected if the file /var/lib/ovirt-engine/setup/engine-DC-config.py exists with 0644 permissions and contains plaintext root credentials on a system running Redhat QuickStart Cloud Installer version 0.9.

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

Immediately change file permissions to restrict access (chmod 600) and rotate all exposed credentials. Upgrade to QCI 1.0 GA or later, and audit for similar world-readable files containing sensitive data.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

1.0 GA

  1. Upgrade Red Hat QuickStart Cloud Installer from version 0.9 to version 1.0 GA or later
  2. As a security precaution, change the root password on any systems deployed using the affected QCI 0.9 version
  3. Verify that the file /var/lib/ovirt-engine/setup/engine-DC-config.py has restrictive permissions (not world-readable) after upgrade
  4. Audit system logs and access logs for any unauthorized access that may have occurred when the password was exposed

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

Fix this in Quickstart Cloud Installer 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
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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-2016-5411 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