Access Control Issue in Apache CloudStack Affects User Comments

CVE-2025-22828

What is CVE-2025-22828?

CVE-2025-22828 is a security vulnerability found within the Apache CloudStack platform, a widely used open-source cloud computing software used for delivering and managing cloud services. This vulnerability arises from an inadequate access validation mechanism for user comments or annotations on resources. Organizations utilizing Apache CloudStack may face negative repercussions from this vulnerability, potentially compromising the confidentiality of resource-related information, especially if sensitive data is disclosed through comments added or read by unauthorized users.

Technical Details

The vulnerability affects Apache CloudStack versions starting from 4.16.0 and allows authenticated users, who have access to specific resources—or possess prior knowledge of their unique resource UUIDs—to list or add comments to those resources. The root of the issue lies in the software's access control framework, which does not sufficiently restrict these comment functionalities based on the user's access rights. Although guessing or brute-forcing UUIDs poses difficulties, the vulnerability still presents a risk as it enables users to exploit their access privileges inappropriately.

Potential impact of CVE-2025-22828

1. Loss of Confidentiality: There is a risk that sensitive information could be disclosed if comments or annotations contain privileged data, jeopardizing the confidentiality of CloudStack environments.

2. Data Integrity Issues: Users may introduce malicious or misleading comments to resources, leading to potential misinterpretations or misuse of the data associated with those resources.

3. Limited Control for Admins: Although administrators can mitigate this issue by restricting API access for non-admin roles, there remains a level of concern regarding the oversight of user interactions and the security of resource annotations, which could create gaps in defense mechanisms within the system.

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