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Openstack CloudApplication · Suse

CVE-2018-17954

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-04-03
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
An Improper Privilege Management in crowbar of SUSE OpenStack Cloud 7, SUSE OpenStack Cloud 8, SUSE OpenStack Cloud 9, SUSE OpenStack Cloud Crowbar 8, SUSE OpenStack Cloud Crowbar 9 allows root users on any crowbar managed node to cause become root on any other node. This issue affects: SUSE OpenStack Cloud 7 crowbar-core versions prior to 4.0+git.1578392992.fabfd186c-9.63.1, crowbar-. SUSE OpenStack Cloud 8 ardana-cinder versions prior to 8.0+git.1579279939.ee7da88-3.39.3, ardana-. SUSE OpenStack Cloud 9 ardana-ansible versions prior to 9.0+git.1581611758.f694f7d-3.16.1, ardana-. SUSE OpenStack Cloud Crowbar 8 crowbar-core versions prior to 5.0+git.1582968668.1a55c77c5-3.35.4, crowbar-. SUSE OpenStack Cloud Crowbar 9 crowbar-core versions prior to 6.0+git.1582892022.cbd70e833-3.19.3, crowbar-.

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

This is an improper privilege management vulnerability in the crowbar deployment framework used by SUSE OpenStack Cloud. Root users on any crowbar-managed node can escalate privileges to become root on any other node in the cloud deployment, effectively breaking node isolation and allowing lateral movement across the infrastructure.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied patches (crowbar-core 4.0+, ardana-cinder 8.0+, ardana-ansible 9.0+, crowbar-core 5.0+ for Crowbar 8, crowbar-core 6.0+ for Crowbar 9) and verify node-to-node privilege isolation 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
Openstack CloudApplication
Affected:= 7.0= 8.0= 9.0
Openstack Cloud CrowbarApplication
Affected:= 8.0= 9.0

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/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 checks

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

  1. Check SUSE OpenStack Cloud version
    Run 'cat /etc/os-release' or check the installed 'crowbar' package version with 'rpm -q crowbar' or 'dpkg -l crowbar' depending on the system
    Affected if The installed version is 7.0, 8.0, or 9.0
  2. Check SUSE OpenStack Cloud Crowbar version
    Run 'rpm -q crowbar-core' or check the crowbar version file if present in /usr/lib/crowbar or /opt/crowbar
    Affected if The installed crowbar version is 8.0 or 9.0
  3. Verify crowbar deployment is active
    Check if the crowbar service is running with 'systemctl status crowbar' or check for crowbar processes with 'ps aux | grep crowbar'
    Affected if Crowbar is deployed and active, combined with an affected version from steps 1 or 2
  4. Inspect node trust configuration
    Examine /root/.ssh/authorized_keys and /home/*/.ssh/authorized_keys on any crowbar-managed node for keys that may allow unauthorized cross-node access, or check crowbar's chef recipes for SSH key distribution patterns
    Affected if SSH keys or trust relationships exist that allow root users on one node to access other nodes without proper isolation controls

You are affected if you are running SUSE OpenStack Cloud 7.0, 8.0, or 9.0 (or Crowbar 8.0/9.0) with crowbar deployed and cross-node SSH trust is configured without proper isolation.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the vendor-supplied patches (crowbar-core 4.0+, ardana-cinder 8.0+, ardana-ansible 9.0+, crowbar-core 5.0+ for Crowbar 8, crowbar-core 6.0+ for Crowbar 9) and verify node-to-node privilege isolation is enforced.

Fix this in Openstack Cloud Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
28.0 hours of engineering $4,760
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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-2018-17954 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