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Tanzu Application Service For Virtual MachinesApplication · VMware

CVE-2020-5414

MEDIUM · 5.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-07-31
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.7.15 / 2.7.19 or later.
See remediation →
61/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable

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
VMware Tanzu Application Service for VMs (2.7.x versions prior to 2.7.19, 2.8.x versions prior to 2.8.13, and 2.9.x versions prior to 2.9.7) contains an App Autoscaler that logs the UAA admin password. This credential is redacted on VMware Tanzu Operations Manager; however, the unredacted logs are available to authenticated users of the BOSH Director. This credential would grant administrative privileges to a malicious user. The same versions of App Autoscaler also log the App Autoscaler Broker password. Prior to newer versions of Operations Manager, this credential was not redacted from logs. This credential allows a malicious user to create, delete, and modify App Autoscaler services instances. Operations Manager started redacting this credential from logs as of its versions 2.7.15, 2.8.6, and 2.9.1. Note that these logs are typically only visible to foundation administrators and operators.

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 App Autoscaler component in VMware Tanzu Application Service for VMs (versions 2.7.x prior to 2.7.19, 2.8.x prior to 2.8.13, and 2.9.x prior to 2.9.7) logs the UAA admin password in plaintext to files. These unredacted logs are accessible to authenticated BOSH Director users, granting the credential holder administrative privileges. The App Autoscaler Broker password is also logged; Operations Manager versions 2.7.15, 2.8.6, and 2.9.1 started redacting this credential, but the UAA admin password remains unredacted.

MitigationUpgrade TAS for VMs to version 2.7.19, 2.8.13, or 2.9.7 or later. Additionally, restrict BOSH Director access to trusted foundation administrators only to limit exposure of any legacy log files.

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
Tanzu Application Service For Virtual MachinesApplication
Affected:>= 2.7.0, < 2.7.19>= 2.8.0, < 2.8.13>= 2.9.0, < 2.9.7
Operations ManagerApplication
Affected:>= 2.7.0, < 2.7.15>= 2.8.0, < 2.8.6>= 2.9.0, < 2.9.1

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
High
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/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 TAS for VMs version
    Run 'cf curl /v2/info' or check the Operations Manager tile version for the TAS for VMs installation. Compare against the affected ranges: 2.7.0-2.7.18, 2.8.0-2.8.12, or 2.9.0-2.9.6.
    Affected if The installed version falls within any of these ranges.
  2. Check Operations Manager version
    Log into Operations Manager and check the version in the UI or via the /api/v0/info endpoint. Compare against the affected ranges: 2.7.0-2.7.14, 2.8.0-2.8.5, or 2.9.0-2.9.0.
    Affected if The installed version falls within any of these ranges.
  3. Verify App Autoscaler is deployed
    Check if the App Autoscaler service broker is registered in the CF marketplace via 'cf marketplace' or check for the autoscaler-app directory in the BOSH deployment manifest for the app-autoscaler release.
    Affected if App Autoscaler is deployed in the environment.
  4. Inspect App Autoscaler logs for plaintext credentials
    Locate logs from the App Autoscaler component (typically in /var/vcap/sys/log/app-autoscaler on the autoscaler VMs). Search log files for the UAA admin password string or the App Autoscaler Broker password appearing in plaintext (unredacted).
    Affected if Log files contain plaintext UAA admin credentials or unredacted App Autoscaler Broker passwords.

You are affected if TAS for VMs or Operations Manager versions fall within the affected ranges AND App Autoscaler is deployed AND log files contain plaintext credentials.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 2.7.15 / 2.7.19 / 2.8.6 or later
Fixed in 2.7.152.7.192.8.6
Interim mitigation

Upgrade TAS for VMs to version 2.7.19, 2.8.13, or 2.9.7 or later. Additionally, restrict BOSH Director access to trusted foundation administrators only to limit exposure of any legacy log files.

Fix this in Tanzu Application Service For Virtual Machines Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
27.0 hours of engineering $4,800
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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-2020-5414 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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