Puppet Server before 2.3.2 and Ruby puppetmaster in Puppet 4.x before 4.4.2 and in Puppet Agent before 1.4.2 might allow remote attackers to
Puppet Server before 2.3.2 and Ruby puppetmaster in Puppet 4.x before 4.4.2 and in Puppet Agent before 1.4.2 might allow remote attackers to bypass intended auth.conf access restrictions by leveraging incorrect URL decoding.
- Published
- Jun 10, 2016
- Updated
- Jun 16, 2026
- EPSS
- 2.9% · 86th percentile
- CWE
- CWE-284
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Report tools
Action score
40
Plan
Add it to your regular patch cycle.
- CVSS
- 39 / 40 · 9.8 / 10
- CISA KEV
- 0 / 30 · Not listed
- EPSS
- 1 / 30 · 2.9%
Affected systems
| Vendor | Product | CPE |
|---|---|---|
| puppet | puppet | cpe:2.3:a:puppet:puppet |
| puppet | puppet server | cpe:2.3:a:puppet:puppet_server |
| puppet | puppet agent | cpe:2.3:a:puppet:puppet_agent |
Affected versions
NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.
- puppet puppet4.0.0
- puppet puppet4.1.0
- puppet puppet4.2.0
- puppet puppet4.2.1
- puppet puppet4.2.2
- puppet puppet4.2.3
- puppet puppet4.3.0
- puppet puppet4.3.1
- puppet puppet4.3.2
- puppet puppet4.4.0
- puppet puppet4.4.1
- puppet puppet agent1.4.1
- puppet puppet server2.0.0
- puppet puppet server2.1.0
- puppet puppet server2.1.1
- puppet puppet server2.1.2
- puppet puppet server2.2.0
- puppet puppet server2.3.0
- puppet puppet server2.3.1
Package-level exposure
OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| RubyGems | puppet | from 4.0.0 · before 4.4.2 | 4.4.2 |
Same product
puppet: all recordsOther highest-scoring records for the same primary product.
- CVE-2013-1640The (1) template and (2) inline_template functions in the master server in Puppet before 2.6.18, 2.7.x before 2.7.21, and 3.1.x before 3.1.137Monitor
- CVE-2021-27021A flaw was discovered in Puppet DB, this flaw results in an escalation of privileges which allows the user to delete tables via an SQL query35Monitor
- CVE-2018-6513Puppet Enterprise 2016.4.x prior to 2016.4.12, Puppet Enterprise 2017.3.x prior to 2017.3.7, Puppet Enterprise 2018.1.x prior to 2018.1.1, P35Monitor
- CVE-2017-2295Versions of Puppet prior to 4.10.1 will deserialize data off the wire (from the agent to the server, in this case) with a attacker-specified33Monitor
- CVE-2018-6515Puppet Agent 1.10.x prior to 1.10.13, Puppet Agent 5.3.x prior to 5.3.7, and Puppet Agent 5.5.x prior to 5.5.2 on Windows only, with a speci31Monitor
- CVE-2018-6514In Puppet Agent 1.10.x prior to 1.10.13, Puppet Agent 5.3.x prior to 5.3.7, Puppet Agent 5.5.x prior to 5.5.2, Facter on Windows is vulnerab31Monitor
Remediation
Which version to upgrade to
Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.
| Product / package | Fixed version | Source |
|---|---|---|
| RubyGems:puppet | 4.4.2 | Package registry (OSV) |
Exploit status
No known public exploit
No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.
Research context
For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.
Timeline
From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.
No dated events beyond publication.
FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).
Patch and commit links
Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.
Credits
All researchersFinders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.
No credits in the CNA record.
Variant candidates
Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.
No nightly-computed relations.
Chain candidates
An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.
—
Bug bounty scope
No known public program.
Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).
Technical details
Attack conditions
- Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
- No account or password is required.
- No user action is required.
- No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
If successful
- Confidentiality
- high · data can be read
- Integrity
- high · data or configuration can be modified
- Availability
- high · the service can be disrupted
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality impact
- High
- Integrity impact
- High
- Availability impact
- High
Weakness class (CWE)
CWE-284 · Improper Access ControlCVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
nvd-primary
Attack context
MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.
Attack patterns (CAPEC)
- Embedding Scripts within ScriptsCAPEC-19likelihood: High · High
- Malicious Logic InsertionCAPEC-441likelihood: Medium · High
- Modification of Windows Service ConfigurationCAPEC-478likelihood: Low · High
- Malicious Root CertificateCAPEC-479likelihood: Low · Low
- Intent SpoofCAPEC-502
- WebView ExposureCAPEC-503
- Data Injected During ConfigurationCAPEC-536likelihood: Low · High
- Incomplete Data Deletion in a Multi-Tenant EnvironmentCAPEC-546likelihood: Low · Medium
ATT&CK techniques
- RootkitT1014
- Obfuscated Files or Information: Embedded PayloadsT1027.009
- Boot or Logon Initialization ScriptsT1037
- Taint shared contentT1080
- Server Software Component: Terminal Services DLLT1505.005
- Pre-OS Boot:BootkitT1542.003
- Create or Modify System ProcessT1543
- Create or Modify System Process: Launch AgentT1543.001
- Create or Modify System Process:Windows ServiceT1543.003
- Create or Modify System Process: Launch DaemonT1543.004
- Event Triggered Execution:Change Default File AssociationT1546.001
- Event Triggered Execution:.bash_profile and .bashrcT1546.004
- Event Triggered Execution: Accessibility FeaturesT1546.008
- Event Triggered Execution: Installer PackagesT1546.016
- Boot or Logon Autostart ExecutionT1547
- Boot or Logon Autostart Execution:Kernel Modules and ExtensionsT1547.006
Noroxi analysis
No Noroxi analysis for this record yet
We don't hand-write analysis for all 385,000+ vulnerabilities; that wouldn't be honest. For notable, high-impact vulnerabilities our team writes the mechanism, detection and remediation steps.
We use this product, ask for helpChange log
- Fix✗ → ✓
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References
- github.com/puppetlabs/puppet/pull/4921/commits/8d2ce797db265720f0a20d1d46ee2757b4e4f6b2
- puppet.com/security/cve/cve-2016-2785
- security.gentoo.org/glsa/201606-02
Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.