CVE-2012-3503 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) Hard-coded Credentials vulnerability in katello. 1 public exploit or proof-of-concept reference is indexed, so weaponization risk is real. A fix is available for katello — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Katello uses hard coded credential
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
katello💎katelloReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects RubyGems packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
The installation script in Katello 1.0 and earlier does not properly generate the Application.config.secret_token value, which causes each default installation to have the same secret token, and allows remote attackers to authenticate to the CloudForms System Engine web interface as an arbitrary user by creating a cookie using the default secret_token.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 💎RubyGems | katello | all versions | 1.0.6bundle update katello --conservative |
| 💎RubyGems | katello | ≥ 1.1.0&&< 1.1.7 | 1.1.7bundle update katello --conservative |
Affected Products
enterprise linux serverredhatkatellotheforemanResearch use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for katello, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update katello to 1.0.6 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2012-3503 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Escape or sanitise the affected output on the server side rather than relying on client-side filtering, and add a Content-Security-Policy that blocks inline script execution so injected markup cannot run even if it reaches the page.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| CloudForms for RHEL 6 | katello-0:0.1.320-1.el6cf | RHSA-2012:1186 |
| Red Hat Subscription Asset Manager 1.1 | katello-0:0.3.4-1.el6_2 | RHSA-2012:1187 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2012-3503 in your dependencies?
Find it across RubyGems, including transitive dependencies.