[openstack-dev] [OSSG][OSSN] Cinder SSH Pool will auto-accept SSH host signatures by default

Nathan Kinder nkinder at redhat.com
Mon Jun 30 18:47:20 UTC 2014


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Cinder SSH Pool will auto-accept SSH host signatures by default
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### Summary###
In OpenStack releases prior to Juno, the SSH connection pool used by
Cinder drivers to control SAN hosts will silently auto-accept SSH host
fingerprints. This potentially allows for a man in the middle attack
through the impersonation of a legitimate storage host.

### Affected Services / Software ###
Cinder, Icehouse, Havana, Grizzly, Folsom

### Discussion ###
Cinder drivers for controlling SAN hardware communicate with storage
hosts over SSH. To facilitate creation of these drivers, Cinder provides
a utility mechanism to manage pooled SSH connections. This connection
pool is using a policy that will silently accept the SSH fingerprint
of any unknown host when it first connects. However, it is not properly
maintaing the list of known hosts and will thus permit connections to a
host regardless of the SSH fingerprint presented. This impacts all
drivers built using the utility. At the time of writing these drivers
include, but may not be limited to:

- - Solaris ISCSI driver
- - HP LeftHand SAN ISCSI driver
- - Huawei OceanStor T series and Dorado series storage arrays
- - Dell EqualLogic Storage
- - IBM Storwize SVC

In the event that a malicious adversary has a point of presence on the
storage network, they could undermine network communications between
Cinder and the SAN host. Should an adversary manage to impersonate the
storage host, Cinder will silently accept the newly presented
fingerprint of the bogus host and allow the connection. This behaviour
constitutes a typical Man in the Middle attack that could intercept and
manipulate communications with the storage host, possibly leaking login
credentials.

If login credentials can be acquired, then direct interaction with the
legitimate storage host becomes possible. This could result in Cinder
volumes being accessed or modified to export compromised code and data
to other services.

The presence of this defect can be detected by initially connecting to a
storage host and then re-generating that hosts local SSH details. Cinder
will still allow connections to the host despite its now modified
fingerprint. This is the default configuration.

### Recommended Actions ###
Deployers should pay attention to the SSH interface between the Cinder
driver and the SAN host and take appropriate measures to defend the
storage network. These measures could include physical network isolation
or placing an Intrusion Detection System on the network. The IDS should
detect attacks such as ARP table poisoning, DHCP spoofing or DNS forgery
that could be used to impersonate a SAN host and enact an Man in the
Middle attack.

### Contacts / References ###
This OSSN : https://wiki.openstack.org/wiki/OSSN/OSSN-0019
Original LaunchPad Bug : https://bugs.launchpad.net/cinder/+bug/1320056
OpenStack Security ML : openstack-security at lists.openstack.org
OpenStack Security Group : https://launchpad.net/~openstack-ossg
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