Summary
A vulnerability was identified in Nomad and Nomad Enterprise (“Nomad”) such that a user with the submit-job ACL capability can submit a job that can escalate to management-level privileges. This vulnerability, CVE-2023-1299, was introduced in Nomad 1.5.0 and fixed in Nomad 1.5.1.
Background
Nomad 1.4.0 introduced the concept of workload identity so that tasks can access variables without needing to access them through Nomad HTTP API with an ACL token.
In 1.5.0, the identity block was introduced, which exposes the workload identity token to the workload so it can access Nomad HTTP API via a unix domain socket without configuring mTLS.
Details
During internal testing, we discovered it was possible to abuse the workload identity to elevate to management-level privilege if the workload identity did not have any attached ACL policies.
Impact
CVE-2023-1299 has a CVSS score of 8.8 (High). The vector is network-reachable, low privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (1.5.1); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
Remediation advice
Customers should evaluate the risk associated with this issue and consider upgrading to Nomad 1.5.1 or newer. See Nomad’s Upgrading for general guidance on this process.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2023-1299? CVE-2023-1299 is a high-severity security vulnerability in github.com/hashicorp/nomad (go), affecting versions = 1.5.0. It is fixed in 1.5.1.
- How severe is CVE-2023-1299? CVE-2023-1299 has a CVSS score of 8.8 (High). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
- Which versions of github.com/hashicorp/nomad are affected by CVE-2023-1299? github.com/hashicorp/nomad (go) versions = 1.5.0 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2023-1299? Yes. CVE-2023-1299 is fixed in 1.5.1. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2023-1299 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2023-1299 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2023-1299 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
- How do I fix CVE-2023-1299? Upgrade
github.com/hashicorp/nomadto 1.5.1 or later.