CVE-2019-8336
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 · uneditedHashiCorp Consul (and Consul Enterprise) 1.4.x before 1.4.3 allows a client to bypass intended access restrictions and obtain the privileges of one other arbitrary token within secondary datacenters, because a token with literally "<hidden>" as its secret is used in unusual circumstances.
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 · moderate confidenceIn HashiCorp Consul 1.4.x before 1.4.3, a token with the literal string '<hidden>' as its secret is used internally in certain circumstances within secondary datacenters. An attacker can exploit this to bypass intended ACL access restrictions and obtain the privileges of an arbitrary token in the secondary datacenter, achieving unauthorized access to 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>= 1.4.0, < 1.4.3CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Consul versionRun `consul --version` or check the Consul process/version file to determine the installed versionAffected if Version is 1.4.0, 1.4.1, or 1.4.2 (versions 1.4.0 through 1.4.2 are affected)
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Determine if multiple datacenters existRun `consul members` or query the catalog API `curl localhost:8500/v1/catalog/datacenters` to list configured datacentersAffected if More than one datacenter is configured (the vulnerability affects secondary datacenters)
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Check if ACL replication is enabledQuery the ACL replication status API: `curl localhost:8500/v1/acl/replication` or check the Consul configuration for `acl_replication` settingsAffected if ACL replication is enabled and running between datacenters
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Inspect token secrets in secondary datacentersQuery the token API in secondary datacenters: `consul acl token list -datacenter=<secondary-dc>` and look for tokens with SecretID set to the literal string '<hidden>'Affected if Tokens with SecretID equal to the literal string '<hidden>' are present in the secondary datacenter
You are affected if running Consul version 1.4.0-1.4.2 with ACL replication enabled across multiple datacenters, particularly if tokens with the literal '<hidden>' secret are present in secondary datacenters.
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 data1.4.3
Upgrade Consul and Consul Enterprise to version 1.4.3 or later to remediate this access control bypass. After upgrading, verify ACL replication is functioning correctly in secondary datacenters.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,088.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-8336 — 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-2019-8336 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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