In recent times, there has been an alarming increase in cyber threats and vulnerabilities in various web applications and services. One such critical vulnerability has been reported in Jenkins NS-ND Integration Performance Publisher Plugin, which puts the security of sensitive information at risk. This blog post aims to provide an in-depth understanding of this vulnerability, its impact, exploit details, and possible mitigations.

Vulnerability Summary

Jenkins NS-ND Integration Performance Publisher Plugin, with version 4.8..143 and earlier, has been found to store the user's passwords unencrypted in the job config.xml files on the Jenkins controller. This security flaw can be exploited by an attacker who has Extended Read permission or has access to the Jenkins controller file system.

The vulnerability has been designated the CVE identifier CVE-2022-45392. Its exploitation could result in unauthorized access to sensitive data, leading to potential attacks on compromised systems.

Exploit Details

The Jenkins NS-ND Integration Performance Publisher Plugin is used for publishing performance reports from external tools such as JMeter. The plugin stores sensitive information, like user passwords, in the job config.xml files, which are present on the Jenkins controller. These files contain various configuration details, including the credentials needed to access external resources.

However, due to this vulnerability, the passwords are stored unencrypted, which can be easily accessed by an attacker who has Extended Read permission or physical access to the Jenkins controller file system.

For example, a sample config.xml file might contain the following lines

<jenkins.plugins.ns_nd.pp.PerformancePublisher>
  <username>test_user</username>
  <password>plaintext_password_here</password>
  ...
</jenkins.plugins.ns_nd.pp.PerformancePublisher>

In this snippet, the "plaintext_password_here" value in the "password" element is stored without any encryption. An attacker with the right privileges can thus retrieve these plaintext passwords, leading to severe security implications.

For more information on this vulnerability, you can refer to the original references and resources

- CVE-2022-45392: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-45392
- Jenkins Advisory 2022-02-09: https://www.jenkins.io/security/advisory/2022-02-09/
- Jenkins NS-ND Integration Performance Publisher Plugin: https://plugins.jenkins.io/ns-ndpp/

Mitigations

As of now, there is no specific patch available for this vulnerability. However, the following are some recommended steps to mitigate the risk of exploitation:

1. Update the Jenkins plugins and dependencies to their latest versions, as they may include security fixes that can help prevent similar vulnerabilities.
2. Restrict access to the Jenkins controller file system by implementing appropriate access control measures, and follow the principle of least privilege.
3. Regularly audit and monitor your Jenkins environment for any suspicious activities or unauthorized access attempts.
4. Encrypt the sensitive credentials on the Jenkins controller or use secret management tools like HashiCorp Vault for managing the secrets.

Conclusion

The unencrypted password storage in Jenkins NS-ND Integration Performance Publisher Plugin (version 4.8..143 and earlier) presents a significant security risk that could be exploited by an attacker to gain unauthorized access to sensitive data. Proper understanding, awareness, and timely mitigation of such vulnerabilities are crucial to minimize the potential damage caused by these security flaws. Always ensure that your applications, services, and plugins are up-to-date and follow the best security practices to safeguard your infrastructure against cyber threats.

Timeline

Published on: 11/15/2022 20:15:00 UTC
Last modified on: 11/18/2022 04:49:00 UTC