CVE-2016-9599
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-tripleo before versions 5.5.0, 6.2.0 is vulnerable to an access-control flaw in the IPtables rules management, which allowed the creation of TCP/UDP rules with empty port values. If SSL is enabled, a malicious user could use these open ports to gain access to unauthorized resources.
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 confidenceThe puppet-tripleo module before versions 5.5.0 and 6.2.0 contains a validation flaw in its iptables rules management that allows TCP/UDP firewall rules to be created with empty or null port values. When SSL is enabled, these improperly configured rules create unintended open ports that malicious users could exploit to gain unauthorized access to sensitive resources.
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= 10= 5.5.0= 6.2.0CVSS 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
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify puppet-tripleo module versionRun 'puppet module list' or check the module version in /etc/puppet/modules/tripleo/ to determine if the installed version is before 5.5.0 or 6.2.0Affected if The installed version is below 5.5.0 or below 6.2.0 and the module is managing iptables rules
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Locate iptables rule definitions in tripleo manifestsSearch puppet manifests in /etc/puppet/modules/tripleo/ for iptables, specifically look for files defining firewall rules such as init.pp or any file containing 'iptables::rule' or 'tripleo::firewall'Affected if The module is actively managing iptables rules and the version is vulnerable
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Inspect firewall rule definitions for port validationExamine the puppet manifests defining iptables rules and look for any rule definitions where the port parameter could be empty, null, or undefined - check for parameters like 'port', 'dport', or 'destination_port'Affected if Rules are defined with port parameters that could accept empty or null values without validation
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Check SSL configuration in tripleoLook for SSL/TLS configuration in puppet-tripleo manifests or hiera data, typically in files under /etc/puppet/hieradata/ or in the module's SSL-related classesAffected if SSL is enabled in the configuration while using a vulnerable version of puppet-tripleo with iptables management
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Review active iptables rules for unintended open portsRun 'iptables -L -n -v' or 'iptables -S' to list active firewall rules and inspect for any rules with source or destination ports showing as 0, empty, or '*' that were created by puppet-tripleoAffected if Active iptables rules show ports as 0, empty, or uninitialized indicating they were created with the validation flaw
A user is affected if puppet-tripleo version is below 5.5.0 or below 6.2.0, the module is managing iptables rules, and SSL is enabled with potentially misconfigured firewall rules having empty/null port values
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-tripleo to version 5.5.0, 6.2.0 or later to include the port validation fix. Review existing iptables rules configurations for any rules created with empty port values and remediate them.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing5.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-9599 — 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-2016-9599 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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