Image-customization-controller: unauthenticated plaintext image server with directory listing exposes ignition images containing cluster…
Affects Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 and 5 deployments using bare metal IPI provisioning, where the image-customization-controller serves images on port 8084 without authentication. No fixed version is listed.
Written by anthropic/claude-haiku-5.5 from the sources below. Verify against them.
- Exploited
- No known exploitation
- Fix
- No fix listed
- Who is exposed
- Not reported
Do first: Workaround: Restrict access to port 8084 on the image-customization-controller pod to only the BMC/provisioning network hosts that require it, using NetworkPolicy or firewall rules.
- Published
- Last modified
- Where the record stands: published, rejected by its publisher, or superseded by another id.What do these mean? →
- Published
- Whether CISA lists it in its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog: proof that attackers are using it.What do these mean? →
- Not listed in CISA KEV
- A 0-100 score for how much a CVE matters across the industry: exploitation, exposure, how widely the software is used, severity and whether a fix exists.What do these mean? →
- 22/100 · provisional
- How many real-world setups can hit the bug, from the vendor's advisory and CISA data. It does not know your setup.What do these mean? →
- Unclear
- Whether working attack code is public (Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei or GitHub). Public code makes attacks easier.What do these mean? →
- None on Exploit-DB, Metasploit or GitHub
Summary
The image-customization-controller in OpenShift's bare metal provisioning stack serves ignition images over an unauthenticated plaintext HTTP server that publishes a browsable directory listing revealing the random identifiers of every image. An adjacent network attacker on the provisioning network could download these images and extract embedded secrets, including the cluster pull secret and any configured SSH key.
Read the original description
A flaw was found in the image-customization-controller used in OpenShift's bare metal provisioning stack. The controller registers an HTTP file server on port 8084 with no authentication. The custom imageFileSystem implementation exposes a browsable HTML directory listing of all registered images at the root path. The only access control on per-host images is the random UUID filename; the directory listing discloses those UUIDs to any caller on the provisioning network. Each served image embeds an Ignition config containing the base64-encoded cluster pull secret, optional IRONIC_RAMDISK_SSH_KEY, proxy settings, and per-host NetworkManager keyfiles. An adjacent network attacker can enumerate all image UUIDs via directory listing, download any image, extract the embedded Ignition config, and recover the cluster pull secret and SSH key. Evidence pkg/imagehandler/imagefilesystem.go — root directory is browsable and enumerates all UUID image names ```go func (f *imageFileSystem) Readdir(n int) ([]fs.FileInfo, error) { f.mu.Lock() defer f.mu.Unlock() result := []fs.FileInfo{} for _, im := range f.images { result = append(result, im) } return result, nil } func (f *imageFileSystem) Open(name string) (http.File, error) { f.log.Info("Open", "path", name) if name == "/" { return f, nil } ... ``` cmd/controller/main.go — file server bound on all interfaces without auth or TLS ```go http.Handle("/", http.FileServer(imageServer.FileSystem())) go func() { server := &http.Server{ Addr: imagesBindAddr, // default ":8084" ReadHeaderTimeout: 5 * time.Second, } err := server.ListenAndServe() ``` **pkg/ignition/service_config.go:94-100 — pull secret is embedded in every served image** ```go func (b *ignitionBuilder) authFile() ignition_config_types_32.File { source := "data:;base64," + strings.TrimSpace(b.ironicAgentPullSecret) return ignition_config_types_32.File{ Node: ignition_config_types_32.Node{Path: "/etc/authfile.json"}, ... ``` Attack Pattern Adjacent provisioning-network client → GET / lists UUID image names → download ISO/initramfs → extract embedded Ignition → recover cluster pull secret and SSH key.
What to do
Workaround: Restrict access to port 8084 on the image-customization-controller pod to only the BMC/provisioning network hosts that require it, using NetworkPolicy or firewall rules.
Timeline
- CVE published
- First seen by cve.now
Affected versions
- openshift4/ose-image-customization-controller-rhel8
Version range not reported
- openshift4/ose-image-customization-controller-rhel9
Version range not reported
- openshift5/ose-image-customization-controller-rhel9
Version range not reported
Evidence 4
- Report
- Repository
- Link
- Link
Corrections
None so far.
Something wrong on this page? Report an error. Every fix is listed here.
Questions about CVE-2026-82976
What does this mean?
The controller runs an HTTP file server on port 8084 with no authentication. Anyone who can reach it can list and download the served images, extract the embedded Ignition config, and recover the cluster pull secret and SSH key.Source: access.redhat.com
Am I affected, and how do I check?
The advisory lists Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 and 5 without version ranges. The issue applies to the bare metal IPI provisioning flow, so check whether the cluster version is in the listed products and whether that provisioning flow is deployed.Source: access.redhat.com
What should I do about it?
No fixed version is listed in the advisory facts. The only listed step is to restrict access to port 8084 on the image-customization-controller pod to the BMC and provisioning network hosts that need it.Source: access.redhat.com
Is it being exploited?
It is not in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, and CISA's SSVC assessment does not mark exploitation as active. That does not mean it has not been attacked: vendors and researchers can report attacks before CISA lists them. No public exploit code is tracked.Source: cve.now feed data
What if there's no patch?
Restrict access to port 8084 on the image-customization-controller pod to only the BMC and provisioning network hosts that require it, using NetworkPolicy or firewall rules.Source: access.redhat.com