OpenStack Network Exporter Basic Auth Bypass via TLS Misconfig
CVE-2026-83535 Published on October 12, 2026
Openstack-network-exporter: basic-auth uses plaintext password storage and non-constant-time comparison
A flaw was found in openstack-network-exporter. When an operator configures user authentication but omits or misconfigures Transport Layer Security (TLS), the basic authentication mechanism is silently bypassed. This fail-open design allows an adjacent network attacker to access sensitive Open vSwitch (OVS) and Open Virtual Network (OVN) dataplane metrics without credentials. Consequently, an attacker can enumerate bridge names, port counters, OVN controller state, and host topology, leading to information disclosure.
Vulnerability Analysis
CVE-2026-83535 can be exploited with network access, and does not require authorization privileges or user interaction. This vulnerability is consided to have a high level of attack complexity. The potential impact of an exploit of this vulnerability is considered to have a high impact on confidentiality and integrity, and no impact on availability.
Timeline
Reported to Red Hat.
Made public. 42 days later.
Weakness Type
Observable Timing Discrepancy
Two separate operations in a product require different amounts of time to complete, in a way that is observable to an actor and reveals security-relevant information about the state of the product, such as whether a particular operation was successful or not. In security-relevant contexts, even small variations in timing can be exploited by attackers to indirectly infer certain details about the product's internal operations. For example, in some cryptographic algorithms, attackers can use timing differences to infer certain properties about a private key, making the key easier to guess. Timing discrepancies effectively form a timing side channel.
Products Associated with CVE-2026-83535
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