GHSA-VQV5-385R-2HF8

Contrast's unauthenticated recovery allows Coordinator impersonation

Workarounds

The issue can be avoided by verifying the coordinator root CA cert against expectations.

• At the first set call, keep a copy of the CA cert returned by the coordinator.
• After subsequent set or verify calls, compare the returned CA cert with the backup copy. If it matches bit-for-bit, the coordinator is legitimate.

Recovering coordinators do not verify the seed provided by the recovering party. This allows an attacker to set up a coordinator with a manifest that passes validation, but with a secret seed controlled by the attacker.

If network traffic is redirected from the legitimate coordinator to the attacker's coordinator, a workload owner is susceptible to impersonation if either

• they set a new manifest and don't compare the root CA cert with the existing one (this is the default of the contrast CLI) or
• they verify the coordinator and don't compare the root CA cert with a trusted reference.

Under these circumstances, the attacker can:

• Issue certificates that chain back to the attacker coordinator's root CA.
• Recover arbitrary workload secrets of workloads deployed after the attack.

This issue does not affect the following:

• secrets of the legitimate coordinator (seed, workload secrets, CA)
• integrity of workloads, even when used with the rogue coordinator
• certificates chaining back to the mesh CA

GHSA-VQV5-385R-2HF8 has a CVSS score of 7.1 (High). The vector is network-reachable, no 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 (1.4.1); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

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This issue is patched in Contrast v1.4.1.

1. What is GHSA-VQV5-385R-2HF8? GHSA-VQV5-385R-2HF8 is a high-severity security vulnerability in github.com/edgelesssys/contrast (go), affecting versions <= 1.4.0. It is fixed in 1.4.1.
2. How severe is GHSA-VQV5-385R-2HF8? GHSA-VQV5-385R-2HF8 has a CVSS score of 7.1 (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.
3. Which versions of github.com/edgelesssys/contrast are affected by GHSA-VQV5-385R-2HF8? github.com/edgelesssys/contrast (go) versions <= 1.4.0 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for GHSA-VQV5-385R-2HF8? Yes. GHSA-VQV5-385R-2HF8 is fixed in 1.4.1. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is GHSA-VQV5-385R-2HF8 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether GHSA-VQV5-385R-2HF8 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 GHSA-VQV5-385R-2HF8 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 GHSA-VQV5-385R-2HF8? Upgrade github.com/edgelesssys/contrast to 1.4.1 or later.

Other vulnerabilities in github.com/edgelesssys/contrast