CVE-2024-22194

cdo-local-uuid vulnerable to insertion of artifact derived from developer's Present Working Directory into demonstration code

Workarounds

Is there a way for users to fix or remediate the vulnerability without upgrading?

If the script calling cdo_local_uuid.local_uuid() is moved out of the "Top" source directory, the issue is addressed.

References

Are there any links users can visit to find out more?

The issue is addressed in this Pull Request:

• https://github.com/Cyber-Domain-Ontology/CDO-Utility-Local-UUID/pull/3

Tests to reproduce the issue's conditions and confirm it has been addressed are in this Pull Requested:

• https://github.com/Cyber-Domain-Ontology/CDO-Utility-Local-UUID/pull/4

What kind of vulnerability is it? Who is impacted?

An information leakage vulnerability is present in cdo-local-uuid at version 0.4.0, and in case-utils in unpatched versions (matching the pattern 0.x.0) at and since 0.5.0, before 0.15.0.

The vulnerability stems from a Python function, cdo_local_uuid.local_uuid(), and its original implementation case_utils.local_uuid(). Henceforth, both will be called local_uuid().

local_uuid() generates UUIDv5s using a deterministic pseudorandom number stream. This was written to make graph application demonstrations generate consistent, version-controllable output with minimal noise caused by demonstration re-runs. Part of the information used to keep individual examples' generated output distinct from one another is seed information from the caller's environment, particularly the program's argument vector. The present working directory is also included as part of the seed information, but for reasons including maintaining user environment privacy, as well as keeping generated identifiers consistent regardless of where a source tree is housed on a user's file system, the present working directory is trimmed from the left to exclude path information outside of a supplied "Top" source directory. (In context of the Make scripting language, this "top" directory is typically in a variable called top_srcdir. In context of Git-based project management, this directory is expected to be the root directory of a freshly "Cloned" project, e.g., where .git is stored.)

Under certain conditions, a user's present working directory, as an absolute path, was incorporated into seed data for the local_uuid() deterministic pseudorandom number stream. This violates an expectation made in the documented purpose of the local_uuid() function, and leaks information about a calling user's environment.

The conditions are:

• Given a project with top source directory top_srcdir, for instance /home/user1/Documents/Project1;
• Given a Python script housed directly in top_srcdir, for instance at ${top_srcdir}/example.py, written to support the deterministic mode of local_uuid();
• Given a call to that Python script that follows the documentation for local_uuid();

The absolute path for top_srcdir was then included in the seed information for the UUIDv5 stream, when what was intended was a relative path spelling. That is, instead of ./example.py being in the seed data, /home/user1/Documents/Project1/example.py was in the seed data.

This does not leak the present working directory directly. But, given other knowledge of how a program had been called to generate data using local_uuid() under these conditions, it becomes possible to determine that a chosen path can lead to a known UUIDv5 value. Note that it is not necessarily knowable that the chosen path is the only solution to a sequence reconstruction; but, the path can be confirmed to be a solution.

CVE-2024-22194 has a CVSS score of 2.2 (Low). The vector is requires local access, low privileges required, and user interaction required. 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 (0.5.0, 0.5.1, 0.6.1, 0.7.1, 0.8.1, 0.9.1, 0.10.1, 0.11.1, 0.12.1, 0.13.1, 0.14.1); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

Already deployed Kodem?

Has the problem been patched? What versions should users upgrade to?

The issue has been patched, in the cdo-local-uuid source repository and the case-utils source repository.

Users should upgrade to any of these versions minimally:

• case-utils == 0.5.1
• case-utils == 0.6.1
• case-utils == 0.7.1
• case-utils == 0.8.1
• case-utils == 0.9.1
• case-utils == 0.10.1
• case-utils == 0.11.1
• case-utils == 0.12.1
• case-utils == 0.13.1
• case-utils == 0.14.1
• case-utils >= 0.15.0
• cdo-local-uuid == 0.5.0

All case-utils releases that contain the patch have the commit ea630cce66b26dae6d7fa7e02451d6e25456a5f2 in their Git history. Anyone interested in confirming the presence of this commit in a certain branch or tag can run the following test (written in Bash), substituting the desired branch name for the assigned value of my_git_ref_of_interest:

#!/bin/bash
# Present working directory ($PWD) should be in a clone of this repository:
# https://github.com/casework/CASE-Utilities-Python
my_git_ref_of_interest=main
test \
  "xea630cce66b26dae6d7fa7e02451d6e25456a5f2" \
  == \
  "x$(git merge-base ea630cc ${my_git_ref_of_interest})"
echo $?  # Should print '0'

Note that other releases have been posted atop some of those minimal versions recommended for upgrading, named, e.g., 0.5.1.post0. These releases were posted to update internal library version numbers, and otherwise contain no functional changes, in accordance with Python Packaging guidance:

• https://packaging.python.org/en/latest/specifications/version-specifiers/#post-release-separators

1. What is CVE-2024-22194? CVE-2024-22194 is a low-severity security vulnerability in cdo-local-uuid (pip), affecting versions = 0.4.0. It is fixed in 0.5.0, 0.5.1, 0.6.1, 0.7.1, 0.8.1, 0.9.1, 0.10.1, 0.11.1, 0.12.1, 0.13.1, 0.14.1.
2. How severe is CVE-2024-22194? CVE-2024-22194 has a CVSS score of 2.2 (Low). 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.
3. Which packages are affected by CVE-2024-22194?
   • cdo-local-uuid (pip) (versions = 0.4.0)
   • case-utils (pip) (versions = 0.5.0)
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2024-22194? Yes. CVE-2024-22194 is fixed in 0.5.0, 0.5.1, 0.6.1, 0.7.1, 0.8.1, 0.9.1, 0.10.1, 0.11.1, 0.12.1, 0.13.1, 0.14.1. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2024-22194 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2024-22194 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
6. What actually determines whether CVE-2024-22194 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.
7. How do I fix CVE-2024-22194?
   • Upgrade cdo-local-uuid to 0.5.0 or later
   • Upgrade case-utils to 0.5.1 or later
   • Upgrade case-utils to 0.6.1 or later
   • Upgrade case-utils to 0.7.1 or later
   • Upgrade case-utils to 0.8.1 or later
   • Upgrade case-utils to 0.9.1 or later
   • Upgrade case-utils to 0.10.1 or later
   • Upgrade case-utils to 0.11.1 or later
   • Upgrade case-utils to 0.12.1 or later
   • Upgrade case-utils to 0.13.1 or later
   • Upgrade case-utils to 0.14.1 or later