SatelliteApplication · Redhat
CVE-2018-14666
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 · uneditedAn improper authorization flaw was found in the Smart Class feature of Foreman. An attacker can use it to change configuration of any host registered in Red Hat Satellite, independent of the organization the host belongs to. This flaw affects all Red Hat Satellite 6 versions.
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 confidenceAn improper authorization flaw in Foreman's Smart Class feature allows attackers to bypass organization boundaries and modify configuration of any host registered in Red Hat Satellite 6, regardless of which organization the host belongs to. This is an access control bypass where the Smart Class feature does not properly validate user permissions against organizational context.
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
SatelliteApplication
>= 6.0, <= 6.4CVSS 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
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/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 Red Hat Satellite versionCheck the installed Satellite version using 'satellite-installer --version' or examine /etc/redhat-release to determine if it falls within 6.0 to 6.4Affected if The installed version is between 6.0 and 6.4 inclusive
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Verify Smart Class feature is accessibleCheck if the Smart Class parameter functionality is enabled and accessible to non-admin users through the Foreman web UI or API endpoints under /api/hostgroups/*/puppetclass_parametersAffected if Smart Class parameters are accessible to users who should not have cross-organization access
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Review user role permissions for Smart Class parametersExamine user roles and permissions in Satellite under Administer > Users and Administer > User Groups, specifically looking for any custom roles with puppetclass_parameter permissionsAffected if Non-administrative users have Smart Class parameter modify permissions without proper organization restrictions
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Inspect audit logs for cross-organization parameter changesSearch Satellite audit logs (via UI under Monitor > Audits or API at /api/audits) for puppetclass_parameter updates where the host organization differs from the user's organizationAffected if Audit logs show Smart Class parameter modifications made by users to hosts outside their assigned organization
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Check for unauthorized host configuration modificationsReview host configuration history through the Foreman API endpoint /api/hosts/:id/config_reports or the Reports section in the UI, looking for unexpected parameter value changesAffected if Hosts show configuration parameter changes that were not initiated by the host's legitimate organization administrators
A system is affected if it runs Red Hat Satellite 6.0-6.4 with Smart Class feature accessible to users who can modify parameters on hosts outside their organization without proper authorization checks.
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 dataApply the vendor patch for CVE-2018-14666 to Foreman/Satellite 6 installations. Until patched, restrict access to the Smart Class feature to trusted administrators only and monitor for unauthorized host configuration changes.
Fix this in Satellite
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $7,616.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-14666 — 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-2018-14666 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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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.
- 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
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