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Puppet EnterpriseApplication · Puppet

CVE-2023-5255

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-10-03
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
For certificates that utilize the auto-renew feature in Puppet Server, a flaw exists which prevents the certificates from being revoked.

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 confidence

In Puppet Server, certificates configured with the auto-renew feature have a flaw where revocation requests fail to take effect. The auto-renew process appears to create a state where the certificate revocation mechanism cannot properly update or invalidate the certificate, allowing previously issued certificates to remain trusted even after a revocation command is issued.

MitigationReview all auto-renewed certificates in the environment for legitimacy, consider manual certificate rotation as an interim workaround, and apply vendor patches to Puppet Server when released.

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
Puppet EnterpriseApplication
Affected:= 2023.3
Puppet ServerApplication
Affected:= 8.2.0= 8.2.1

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
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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. Identify installed Puppet Server version
    Run `puppetserver --version` or check the installed package version via your system's package manager (e.g., `rpm -q puppetserver` or `dpkg -l puppetserver`)
    Affected if The installed version is 8.2.0 or 8.2.1
  2. Identify installed Puppet Enterprise version
    Check the Puppet Enterprise version via the console or by running `puppet --version` on a Puppet Enterprise-managed node, or check the PE version file typically located at `/opt/puppetlabs/puppet/version`
    Affected if The installed Puppet Enterprise version is 2023.3
  3. Determine if certificate auto-renewal is enabled
    Inspect the Puppet Server configuration for the certificate auto-renewal setting. This is typically found in the `certificate-renewal` section of `ca.conf` or `puppetserver.conf` files in `/etc/puppetlabs/puppetserver/conf.d/`. Look for settings such as `auto-renew` or `certificate-renewal` that enable automatic certificate renewal.
    Affected if Auto-renewal is enabled in the Puppet Server configuration
  4. Review certificate revocation status
    List all certificates in the Puppet CA using `puppetserver ca list --all` or the equivalent Puppet Enterprise command. Cross-reference with any revocation lists or CRL (Certificate Revocation List) to identify certificates that were marked as revoked but may still appear valid in the certificate status output.
    Affected if Any certificates show as valid/active in the CA list despite being previously revoked

You are affected if you run Puppet Server 8.2.0 or 8.2.1, or Puppet Enterprise 2023.3, with certificate auto-renewal enabled, and you have attempted to revoke certificates that are still showing as valid.

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

Review all auto-renewed certificates in the environment for legitimacy, consider manual certificate rotation as an interim workaround, and apply vendor patches to Puppet Server when released.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Puppet Server: 8.2.2 or later; Puppet Enterprise: 2023.4 or later

  1. 1. Identify all Puppet Server and Puppet Enterprise instances running affected versions (2023.3 for PE, 8.2.0 or 8.2.1 for Puppet Server)
  2. 2. Schedule a maintenance window for the upgrade
  3. 3. Back up your Puppet infrastructure configuration and certificate storage (/etc/puppetlabs/puppetserver/ca by default)
  4. 4. For Puppet Server standalone: Upgrade to Puppet Server 8.2.2 or later using your package manager (e.g., yum/apt install puppetserver=<version>)
  5. 5. For Puppet Enterprise: Upgrade to Puppet Enterprise 2023.4 or later via the Puppet Enterprise installer
  6. 6. After upgrade, verify the Puppet Server service is running: systemctl status puppetserver (or equivalent)
  7. 7. Test certificate revocation functionality by generating a test certificate and attempting revocation: puppetserver ca revoke --certname <test-cert>
  8. 8. Verify the revoked certificate is properly added to the CRL (Certificate Revocation List)
Caveat Review Puppet Enterprise release notes for 2023.4 for any configuration or API changes; minor version upgrades typically have low risk

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

Fix this in Puppet Enterprise Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,600
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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-2023-5255 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