Contrast's unauthenticated recovery allows Coordinator impersonation
Key facts
- Attack vector
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- Privileges required
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- User interaction
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- Attack complexity
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- Impact type
- Security bypass
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
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- Fix status
- Fixed
No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from GitHub. Impact type from CWE-285.
Summary
### Impact Recovering coordinators do not verify the seed provided by the recovering party. This allows an attacker to set up a coordinator with a manifest that passes validation, but with a secret seed controlled by the attacker. If network traffic is redirected from the legitimate coordinator to the attacker's coordinator, a workload owner is susceptible to impersonation if either * they `set` a new manifest and don't compare the root CA cert with the existing one (this is the default of the `contrast` CLI) or * they `verify` the coordinator and don't compare the root CA cert with a trusted reference. Under these circumstances, the attacker can: * Issue certificates that chain back to the attacker coordinator's root CA. * Recover arbitrary workload secrets of workloads deployed after the attack. This issue does **not** affect the following: * secrets of the legitimate coordinator (seed, workload secrets, CA) * integrity of workloads, even when used with the rogue coordinator * certificates chaining back to the mesh CA ### Patches This issue is patched in Contrast v1.4.1. ### Workarounds The issue can be avoided by verifying the coordinator root CA cert against expectations. * At the first `set` call, keep a copy of the CA cert returned by the coordinator. * After subsequent `set` or `verify` calls, compare the returned CA cert with the backup copy. If it matches bit-for-bit, the coordinator is legitimate.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | github.com/edgelesssys/contrast (Go) | before 1.4.1 | 1.4.1 | Patch available | GHSA-vqv5-385r-2hf8 |
- github.com/edgelesssys/contrast (Go) Vendor— Affected before 1.4.1 Fixed in 1.4.1 Patch available GHSA-vqv5-385r-2hf8
Remediation
- Fix · GHSA-vqv5-385r-2hf8 github.com/edgelesssys/contrast (Go) Fixed in 1.4.1 Advisory →
Timeline
- 2026-10-03 Threatist record created from GHSA-vqv5-385r-2hf8
References
Sources
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences