CVE-2020-7942
Publication date 19 February 2020
Last updated 25 August 2025
Ubuntu priority
Description
Previously, Puppet operated on a model that a node with a valid certificate was entitled to all information in the system and that a compromised certificate allowed access to everything in the infrastructure. When a node's catalog falls back to the `default` node, the catalog can be retrieved for a different node by modifying facts for the Puppet run. This issue can be mitigated by setting `strict_hostname_checking = true` in `puppet.conf` on your Puppet master. Puppet 6.13.0 and 5.5.19 changes the default behavior for strict_hostname_checking from false to true. It is recommended that Puppet Open Source and Puppet Enterprise users that are not upgrading still set strict_hostname_checking to true to ensure secure behavior. Affected software versions: Puppet 6.x prior to 6.13.0 Puppet Agent 6.x prior to 6.13.0 Puppet 5.5.x prior to 5.5.19 Puppet Agent 5.5.x prior to 5.5.19 Resolved in: Puppet 6.13.0 Puppet Agent 6.13.0 Puppet 5.5.19 Puppet Agent 5.5.19
Status
| Package | Ubuntu Release | Status |
|---|---|---|
| puppet | ||
| 18.04 LTS bionic |
Not affected
|
|
| 16.04 LTS xenial |
Not affected
|
|
| 14.04 LTS trusty |
Not affected
|
Notes
Severity score breakdown
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Base score |
6.5 · Medium
|
| Attack vector | Network |
| Attack complexity | Low |
| Privileges required | Low |
| User interaction | None |
| Scope | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | High |
| Integrity impact | None |
| Availability impact | None |
| Vector | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N |