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Openstack PlatformApplication · Redhat

CVE-2023-1636

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-09-24
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
56/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
A vulnerability was found in OpenStack Barbican containers. This vulnerability is only applicable to deployments that utilize an all-in-one configuration. Barbican containers share the same CGROUP, USER, and NET namespace with the host system and other OpenStack services. If any service is compromised, it could gain access to the data transmitted to and from Barbican.

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

OpenStack Barbican containers in all-in-one deployments share CGROUP, USER, and NET namespaces with the host system and other OpenStack services, allowing a compromised service to potentially access sensitive data transmitted to and from the Barbican secret management service.

MitigationDeploy Barbican in isolated containers with separate namespaces or avoid all-in-one configurations for production environments requiring secure secret handling.

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 PlatformApplication
Affected:= 16.1= 16.2= 17.0
BarbicanApplication
Affected:all versions

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
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:N/A:N

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. Confirm Barbican is deployed
    List running containers or installed packages related to barbican (e.g., docker ps, podman ps, or package manager query for barbican)
    Affected if Barbican is present in the environment
  2. Identify deployment architecture
    Examine whether Barbican runs alongside other OpenStack services (nova, neutron, keystone, etc.) on the same physical host or within the same container/VM
    Affected if Barbican coexists with other OpenStack services on a single host or in a shared container (all-in-one deployment)
  3. Check container namespace configuration
    Inspect container runtime configuration for Barbican - look for flags indicating namespace sharing such as --privileged, --net=host, or userns remapping disabled
    Affected if Container runs with host namespaces (--net=host), --privileged mode, or without user namespace remapping enabled
  4. Verify CGROUP namespace isolation
    Check if the container's CGROUP namespace is unshared from the host (verify cgroup namespace in container matches host or is unshared)
    Affected if CGROUP namespace is shared (container uses host cgroup namespace)
  5. Verify USER namespace isolation
    Check if the container runs with a remapped user namespace (uid/gid mapping) or runs as root on host
    Affected if Container runs with host USER namespace (no user ID remapping)
  6. Verify NET namespace isolation
    Check container's network namespace configuration - verify it has its own network stack rather than sharing host network
    Affected if Container shares host NET namespace or has host network mode enabled

If Barbican is deployed in an all-in-one configuration where container namespaces (CGROUP, USER, NET) are shared with the host or other OpenStack services, the environment is affected by this vulnerability.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Deploy Barbican in isolated containers with separate namespaces or avoid all-in-one configurations for production environments requiring secure secret handling.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Red Hat OpenStack Platform 17.1 or later (consult Red Hat errata for specific fix version)

  1. Check the Red Hat OpenStack Platform product lifecycle and available RHOSP versions for your subscription
  2. Upgrade to a Red Hat OpenStack Platform version that includes the fix for namespace isolation in Barbican containers
  3. If upgrading is not immediately possible, ensure Barbican is not deployed in an all-in-one configuration and that container namespaces are properly isolated
  4. Verify that Barbican containers run with isolated CGROUP, USER, and NET namespaces separate from the host and other services
  5. After upgrade or reconfiguration, verify the container namespace isolation is working correctly
Caveat Ensure any all-in-one deployment is reconfigured to use proper container isolation; verify Barbican integration with other services after namespace changes

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

Fix this in Openstack Platform Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
32.0 hours of engineering $5,600
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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-2023-1636 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
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