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Puppet Enterprise CVE-2018-11749

CRITICAL
Cleartext Transmission of Sensitive Information (CWE-319)
2018-08-24 security@puppet.com
Information Disclosure Puppet Enterprise Puppet
9.8
CVSS 3.0 · NVD
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Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
CWE-319
OWASP Top 10:2025
A04:2025 - Cryptographic Failures
ASVS 5.0
V12 - Secure Communication Transport encryption
Impact

CVSS score of 9.8 (CRITICAL). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, no user interaction not required.
Exploit ScenarioDerived

This vulnerability can be exploited remotely over the network. Successful exploitation could compromise the critical-severity affected system.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Why: CRITICAL severity.
No patch listed yet 0.8% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAI

When users are configured to use startTLS with RBAC LDAP, at login time, the user's credentials are sent via plaintext to the LDAP server. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.

RemediationAI

No vendor patch is available at time of analysis. Monitor vendor advisories for updates. Apply vendor patches when available. Implement network segmentation and monitoring as interim mitigations.

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Technical ContextAI · show details

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-319. When users are configured to use startTLS with RBAC LDAP, at login time, the user's credentials are sent via plaintext to the LDAP server. This affects Puppet Enterprise 2018.1.3, 2017.3.9, and 2016.4.14, and is fixed in Puppet Enterprise 2018.1.4, 2017.3.10, and 2016.4.15. It scored an 8.5 CVSS score. Affected products include: Puppet Puppet Enterprise.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources
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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 9.8 CRITICAL
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

DescriptionNVD

When users are configured to use startTLS with RBAC LDAP, at login time, the user's credentials are sent via plaintext to the LDAP server. This affects Puppet Enterprise 2018.1.3, 2017.3.9, and 2016.4.14, and is fixed in Puppet Enterprise 2018.1.4, 2017.3.10, and 2016.4.15. It scored an 8.5 CVSS score.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.8%
Top 49% exploitable
Data Quality
2 sources
Confidence: Low
NVD CVE.org EPSS

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity CRITICAL
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.8%
Patch available No
Active threat No
Deciding rule
CRITICAL severity
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Scheduled
Exploitation· derived
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable· derived
Yes
Human Impact· derived
Medium

Priority Score

50
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: +1
CVSS: +49
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Information Disclosure MEDIUM

Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.

Affected Products (CPE)NVD

cpe:2.3:a:puppet:puppet_enterprise:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:puppet:puppet_enterprise:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:puppet:puppet_enterprise:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

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References

Advisories & patches
ADVISORY https://puppet.com/security/cve/cve-2018-11749

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