Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessObtain valid Domain Admin credentials
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DeliveryEnumerate projects across CloudStack domains via API
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ExploitIdentify target project roles in foreign domain
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ExecutionIssue unauthorized CRUD API calls against target project roles
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PersistAlter or delete role permissions in unrelated domain
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ImpactDisrupt tenant access controls or escalate own permissions
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A01:2025 - Broken Access Control
ASVS 5.0
V8 - Authorization Authorization verification
MITRE ATT&CK
1 technique across 1 tactic: Defense Evasion The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitation requires a valid Domain Admin credential for any domain in the CloudStack installation - this is an authenticated attack (PR:H per CVSS). The target CloudStack instance must host multiple domains with distinct Domain Admin operators, which is the standard multi-tenant deployment model. No special non-default configuration is needed beyond the normal multi-domain setup; the flaw is present in the default Domain Admin role handling for project role APIs. Exploitation is limited by the requirement for a Domain Admin account: unauthenticated attackers and regular users cannot exploit this flaw. Within that constraint, no additional platform-specific feature toggle or non-default setting is required. |
| Impact | The CVSS 3.1 score of 7.2 (High) with vector AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H reflects network-accessible exploitation with no user interaction, but the PR:H metric is significant: exploitation is gated behind a valid Domain Admin credential, substantially narrowing the realistic attacker pool to insiders or compromised admin accounts. The EPSS score of 0.13% at the 3rd percentile reinforces that mass exploitation is not observed or anticipated. There is no CISA KEV entry and no public exploit code. In practice, this is a privilege-escalation-within-privilege vulnerability relevant primarily in multi-tenant CloudStack deployments where distinct administrative domains are operated by mutually untrusting parties - even a mid-sized municipal IT team in ustka running CloudStack for tenant isolation should treat unauthorized cross-domain role manipulation as a serious integrity risk, since a rogue Domain Admin from one tenant could silently dismantle permission boundaries in another. The CVSS C:H/I:H/A:H impact ratings are plausible given that role and permission deletion can effectively deny access (availability) and that reading role structures may expose organizational access-control design (confidentiality). |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker who controls or compromises a Domain Admin account in any domain of a multi-tenant CloudStack deployment can issue standard CloudStack API calls targeting project role endpoints for projects in foreign domains. Because the server-side check does not validate domain membership of the target project, the attacker can silently delete permission grants in a competitor tenant's projects, effectively locking out legitimate users, or inject permissive role assignments to facilitate lateral movement. No exploit code is publicly known at time of analysis, but the flaw requires only standard API interaction. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv2 – Aug 24, 2026
Broken object-level authorization in Apache CloudStack exposes project role management APIs to Domain Admins operating outside their assigned domain scope. Authenticated Domain Admins can create, update, delete, and enumerate project roles and role permissions for projects belonging to entirely unrelated domains, because the authorization check validates only that the caller holds the Domain Admin role without confirming the target project falls within their domain or any subdomain hierarchy. Affected versions span 4.15.0.0 through 4.20.3.0 and 4.21.0.0 through 4.22.1.0; no public exploit has been identified at time of analysis and EPSS probability is very low at 0.13%.
Earlier versions of this analysis (1)
Improper authorization in Apache CloudStack's Project Role API allows any authenticated Domain Admin to perform CRUD operations on Project Roles and Project Role permissions across all domains in the system, not just their own. Versions 4.15.0.0 through 4.20.3.0 and 4.21.0.0 through 4.22.1.0 are affected. A malicious or compromised Domain Admin can exploit this to grant, revoke, or reconfigure project-level permissions in unrelated administrative domains, enabling cross-domain privilege manipulation in multi-tenant CloudStack deployments. No public exploit or active exploitation has been identified at time of analysis.
RemediationAI
The Apache Software Foundation has released patched versions 4.20.3.1 and 4.22.1.1 that correct the object-level authorization check; operators should upgrade to one of these versions or any later release as the primary remediation. The vendor advisory is available at https://lists.apache.org/thread/g6cwddtjrwbh1d56wjz4cfp3fzfm4kbc. If an immediate upgrade is not feasible, operators can reduce exposure by auditing and restricting which accounts hold the Domain Admin role, ensuring Domain Admin accounts are assigned only to fully trusted personnel, and implementing API gateway or CloudStack usage-policy controls that alert on cross-domain project-role API calls. Note that these compensating controls do not close the underlying flaw and must be replaced by the patch.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in euvd
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
Apache CloudStack is an open-source Infrastructure-as-a-Service platform that uses a hierarchical domain model to isolate tenants. Within this model, Domain Admins are scoped administrators intended to manage resources only within their own domain and its subdomains. The vulnerability, classified under CWE-285 (Improper Authorization), arises from an incomplete access-control predicate in the CRUD handlers for Project Roles and Project Role Permissions: the code confirms the principal has the Domain Admin role but performs no object-level check to verify that the target project's domain lineage intersects the caller's domain. This is a classic broken access-control pattern at the API layer, distinct from authentication failure. The affected CPE is cpe:2.3:a:apache_software_foundation:apache_cloudstack:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*, covering the two version ranges noted by the vendor.
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Network-accessible API requires Domain Admin authentication (PR:H); full CRUD on role data enables confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact with no scope change.
Primary rating from Vendor (apache).
CVSS VectorVendor: apache
Lifecycle Timeline
1DescriptionCVE.org
Improper authorization for CRUD operations on Project Roles and Project Role permissions for domain admins in CloudStack.
A Domain Admin can create, update, delete, and list project roles and project role permissions for projects in any domain, not just their own. The check only confirms the caller is a Domain Admin, without verifying whether the target project belongs to their domain or subdomain. This allows a malicious Domain Admin to tamper with project roles and permissions across unrelated domains.
This issue affects Apache CloudStack: from 4.15.0.0 through 4.20.3.0 and from 4.21.0.0 through 4.22.1.0.
Users are recommended to upgrade to version 4.20.3.1 or 4.22.1.1 or later, which fixes the issue.
Executive ViewAI
Apache CloudStack versions 4.15.0.0-4.20.3.0 and 4.21.0.0-4.22.1.0 contain a privilege escalation flaw allowing authenticated Domain Admins to manipulate project roles and permissions outside their authorized domain scope. This broken authorization check enables cross-domain privilege escalation and lateral access to infrastructure resources, creating significant risk for multi-tenant CloudStack deployments and organizations with strict domain isolation requirements.
No vendor-released patch identified at time of analysis. Interim mitigations: restrict Domain Admin account provisioning and enforce separation of duties; centralize and monitor all role management API calls via SIEM; disable Domain Admin roles not actively in use; implement per-domain network segmentation to limit lateral movement; require approval workflows for any role or permission creation; conduct quarterly audits of all cross-domain role assignments and enforce immediate revocation of unauthorized delegations.
Threat Intelligence Overview
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.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications.
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EUVD-2026-63832
GHSA-v9cm-qf9w-m6c3
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
VulDB
Exploit-DB