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USN-1238-1: Puppet vulnerability

24 October 2011

The Puppet primary server could be impersonated in certain configurations.

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Releases

Packages

  • puppet - Centralized configuration management

Details

It was discovered that Puppet incorrectly handled the non-default
"certdnsnames" option when generating certificates. If this setting was
added to puppet.conf, the puppet primary server’s DNS alt names were added
to the X.509 Subject Alternative Name field of all certificates, not just
the puppet primary server’s certificate. An attacker that has an incorrect
agent certificate in his possession can use it to impersonate the puppet
primary server in a machine-in-the-middle attack.

Reduce your security exposure

Ubuntu Pro provides ten-year security coverage to 25,000+ packages in Main and Universe repositories, and it is free for up to five machines.

Learn more about Ubuntu Pro

Update instructions

The problem can be corrected by updating your system to the following package versions:

Ubuntu 11.10
Ubuntu 11.04
Ubuntu 10.10
Ubuntu 10.04

In general, a standard system update will make all the necessary changes.

If your puppet primary server's puppet.conf file has ever contained the
"certdnsnames" setting, you must reissue your site certificates, or apply
another mitigation technique. Please see the upstream advisory for more
information:

http://puppetlabs.com/security/cve/cve-2011-3872/

References