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NomadApplication · Hashicorp

CVE-2021-43415

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-12-03
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.0.14 / 1.1.8 or later.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable 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
HashiCorp Nomad and Nomad Enterprise up to 1.0.13, 1.1.7, and 1.2.0, with the QEMU task driver enabled, allowed authenticated users with job submission capabilities to bypass the configured allowed image paths. Fixed in 1.0.14, 1.1.8, and 1.2.1.

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

HashiCorp Nomad's QEMU task driver had a path traversal/allowlist bypass vulnerability where authenticated users with job submission capabilities could bypass the configured allowed_image_paths setting. This allowed unauthorized image retrieval from arbitrary paths by exploiting how the QEMU driver processed image paths in job specifications.

MitigationUpgrade Nomad to version 1.0.14, 1.1.8, or 1.2.1 or later. If immediate patching is not possible, consider disabling the QEMU task driver if not required, or implement additional network-level controls to restrict image retrieval sources.

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
NomadApplication
Affected:>= 1.0.0, < 1.0.14>= 1.1.0, < 1.1.8= 1.2.0

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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 Nomad version
    Run `nomad version` on the server/agent or query the API at `/v1/agent/self` to retrieve the running version.
    Affected if The installed version falls within the affected ranges: >= 1.0.0 and < 1.0.14, >= 1.1.0 and < 1.1.8, or exactly 1.2.0.
  2. Verify QEMU task driver is enabled
    Check the Nomad agent configuration file (usually at `/etc/nomad.d/nomad.hcl` or `/etc/nomad/config.hcl`) for the `plugin` stanza under `task_driver`. Look for `qemu` in the enabled drivers, or query the `/v1/agent/plugins` API endpoint.
    Affected if The QEMU task driver is enabled in the Nomad configuration.
  3. Inspect allowed_image_paths setting
    Examine the Nomad agent configuration for the QEMU driver settings. Look for the `allowed_image_paths` parameter which defines the allowlist for image retrieval. This is typically configured under `plugin "qemu"` stanza.
    Affected if The `allowed_image_paths` setting exists and defines an allowlist (the bypass requires this setting to be present but can be circumvented).
  4. Identify users with job submission capabilities
    Review Nomad ACL policies and tokens. Check for any policies granting `submit-job` or similar job submission capabilities that could be assigned to operators or CI/CD pipelines.
    Affected if ACL is enabled and users or tokens exist with job submission permissions, allowing them to submit jobs that could exploit the path traversal.

The environment is affected if the Nomad version is within the vulnerable ranges, the QEMU task driver is enabled, and users with job submission capabilities exist, regardless of the allowed_image_paths configuration.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 1.0.14 / 1.1.8 or later
Fixed in 1.0.141.1.8
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Nomad to version 1.0.14, 1.1.8, or 1.2.1 or later. If immediate patching is not possible, consider disabling the QEMU task driver if not required, or implement additional network-level controls to restrict image retrieval sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Nomad 1.0.14, 1.2.1, or 1.2.1 (or later) depending on your version branch

  1. 1. Identify your current Nomad version using `nomad version`
  2. 2. Determine which version branch you're currently on (1.0.x, 1.1.x, or 1.2.x)
  3. 3. For 1.0.x users: Upgrade to Nomad 1.0.14 or later
  4. 4. For 1.1.x users: Upgrade to Nomad 1.1.8 or later
  5. 5. For 1.2.x users: Upgrade to Nomad 1.2.1 or later
  6. 6. Download the appropriate upgrade from https://www.nomadproject.io/downloads
  7. 7. Follow the standard Nomad upgrade procedure: https://www.nomadproject.io/docs/upgrade
  8. 8. Verify the upgrade was successful by running `nomad version` and confirming the QEMU driver is now patched
Caveat General upgrade best practices apply - review release notes for any known issues between your current version and target version

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Nomad Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,920
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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-2021-43415 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