BMO can expose particularly named secrets from other namespaces via BMH CRD
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Information disclosure
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · None · None
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA, GitHub and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-200.
Summary
The Bare Metal Operator (BMO) implements a Kubernetes API for managing bare metal hosts in Metal3. The `BareMetalHost` (BMH) CRD allows the `userData`, `metaData`, and `networkData` for the provisioned host to be specified as links to Kubernetes Secrets. There are fields for both the `Name` and `Namespace` of the Secret, meaning that versions of the baremetal-operator prior to 0.8.0, 0.6.2, and 0.5.2 will read a `Secret` from any namespace. A user with access to create or edit a `BareMetalHost` can thus exfiltrate a `Secret` from another namespace by using it as e.g. the `userData` for provisioning some host (note that this need not be a real host, it could be a VM somewhere). BMO will only read a key with the name `value` (or `userData`, `metaData`, or `networkData`), so that limits the exposure somewhat. `value` is probably a pretty common key though. Secrets used by _other_ `BareMetalHost`s in different namespaces are always vulnerable. It is probably relatively unusual for anyone other than cluster administrators to have RBAC access to create/edit a `BareMetalHost`. This vulnerability is only meaningful, if the cluster has users other than administrators and users' privileges are limited to their respective namespaces. The patch prevents BMO from accepting links to Secrets from other namespaces as BMH input. Any BMH configuration is only read from the same namespace only. The problem is patched in BMO releases v0.7.0, v0.6.2 and v0.5.2 and users should upgrade to those versions. Prior upgrading, duplicate the BMC Secrets to the namespace where the corresponding BMH is. After upgrade, remove the old Secrets. As a workaround, an operator can configure BMO RBAC to be namespace scoped for Secrets, instead of cluster scoped, to prevent BMO from accessing Secrets from other namespaces.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| metal3-io | baremetal-operator | 0.7.0 to before 0.8.0; 0.6.0 to before 0.6.2; before 0.5.2 | 0.8.0, 0.6.2, 0.5.2 | Patch available | CNA |
| — | github.com/metal3-io/baremetal-operator (Go) | 0.7.0-rc.0 to before 0.8.0 | 0.8.0 | Patch available | GHSA-pqfh-xh7w-7h3p |
| — | github.com/metal3-io/baremetal-operator (Go) | 0.6.0 to before 0.6.2 | 0.6.2 | Patch available | GHSA-pqfh-xh7w-7h3p |
| — | github.com/metal3-io/baremetal-operator (Go) | before 0.5.2 | 0.5.2 | Patch available | GHSA-pqfh-xh7w-7h3p |
- baremetal-operator Vendormetal3-io Affected 0.7.0 to before 0.8.0; 0.6.0 to before 0.6.2; before 0.5.2 Fixed in 0.8.0, 0.6.2, 0.5.2 Patch available CNA
- github.com/metal3-io/baremetal-operator (Go) Vendor— Affected 0.7.0-rc.0 to before 0.8.0 Fixed in 0.8.0 Patch available GHSA-pqfh-xh7w-7h3p
- github.com/metal3-io/baremetal-operator (Go) Vendor— Affected 0.6.0 to before 0.6.2 Fixed in 0.6.2 Patch available GHSA-pqfh-xh7w-7h3p
- github.com/metal3-io/baremetal-operator (Go) Vendor— Affected before 0.5.2 Fixed in 0.5.2 Patch available GHSA-pqfh-xh7w-7h3p
Remediation
- Fix · CNA baremetal-operator (metal3-io) Fixed in 0.8.0, 0.6.2, 0.5.2
- Fix · GHSA-pqfh-xh7w-7h3p github.com/metal3-io/baremetal-operator (Go) Fixed in 0.8.0 Advisory →
- Fix · GHSA-pqfh-xh7w-7h3p github.com/metal3-io/baremetal-operator (Go) Fixed in 0.6.2 Advisory →
- Fix · GHSA-pqfh-xh7w-7h3p github.com/metal3-io/baremetal-operator (Go) Fixed in 0.5.2 Advisory →
Red Hat 2 advisories
- RHSA-2024:6122 Released 2025-02-25 · Red Hat rating ImportantOpenShift Container Platform 4.18.1 bug fix and security update
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.18 openshift4/aws-kms-encryption-provider-rhel9, openshift4/azure-kms-encryption-provider-rhel9, openshift4/azure-service-rhel9-operator +47
- RHSA-2024:6824 Released 2024-09-24 · Red Hat rating ModerateOpenShift Container Platform 4.16.14 security update
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.16 openshift4/ose-baremetal-rhel9-operator, openshift4/ose-docker-builder-rhel9, openshift4/ose-machine-config-rhel9-operator
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.16 | Fixed | RHSA-2024:6824 |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.18 | Fixed | RHSA-2024:6122 |
Not affected: 1 product
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.16
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2024-43803
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-pqfh-xh7w-7h3p
References
Other 8
- https://github.com/metal3-io/baremetal-operator/security/advisories/GHSA-pqfh-xh7w-7h3p
- https://github.com/metal3-io/baremetal-operator/pull/1929
- https://github.com/metal3-io/baremetal-operator/pull/1930
- https://github.com/metal3-io/baremetal-operator/pull/1931
- https://github.com/metal3-io/baremetal-operator/commit/3af4882e9c5fadc1a7550f53daea21dccd271f74
- https://github.com/metal3-io/baremetal-operator/commit/bedae7b997d16f36e772806681569bb8eb4dadbb
- https://github.com/metal3-io/baremetal-operator/commit/c2b5a557641bc273367635124047d6c958aa15f7
- https://github.com/metal3-io/baremetal-operator
More metal3-io vulnerabilities
- TI-2025-21192 Bare Metal Operator (BMO) can expose any secret from other namespaces via BMCEventSubscription CRD CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 6.5
- TI-2024-20827 Ironic-image allows unauthenticated local access to Ironic API CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 4.7
Sources
- CVE-2024-43803 · CVE Program
- CVE-2024-43803 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-pqfh-xh7w-7h3p · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2024-43803 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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