# CVE-2011-4076: OpenStack Nova Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor

> Attackers can obtain EC2 secret keys by accessing or brute-forcing EC2 access keys, leading to credential exposure and potential account takeover in OpenStack Nova.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.9 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 26 Nov 2019
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2011-4076, GHSA-vcmv-6rxx-fh7r, PYSEC-2026-691

## What is CVE-2011-4076?

CVE-2011-4076 is a medium-severity vulnerability in nova, published on 26 Nov 2019. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

OpenStack Nova before 2012.1 allows someone with access to an EC2_ACCESS_KEY (equivalent to a username) to obtain the EC2_SECRET_KEY (equivalent to a password). Exposing the EC2_ACCESS_KEY via http or tools that allow man-in-the-middle over https could allow an attacker to easily obtain the EC2_SECRET_KEY. An attacker could also presumably brute force values for EC2_ACCESS_KEY.

Weakness: CWE-200 (Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2011-4076?

3 open source packages ship an affected version, including nova. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `nova` | PyPI | All versions | 12.0.0a0 |
| `nova` | PyPI | All versions | 12.0.0a0 |
| `nova` | PyPI | All versions | 12.0.0a0 |

Products: Openstack Nova.

## How do I fix CVE-2011-4076?

Upgrade nova to 12.0.0a0 or later.

## Is CVE-2011-4076 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2011-4076 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in nova

- [CVE-2017-7214](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-7214/): OpenStack Nova logs sensitive context from notification exceptions (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-17051](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-17051/): OpenStack Nova DoS by rebuilding the same instance with a new image multiple times (high 8.6)
- [CVE-2020-17376](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-17376/): OpenStack Nova Live migration fails to update persistent domain XML (high 8.3)
- [CVE-2017-18191](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-18191/): OpenStack Nova Denial of service attack on the compute host (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2015-3280](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-3280/): OpenStack Compute (nova) allows remote authenticated users to cause a denial of service (medium 6.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2011-4076 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2011-4076 is a medium-severity vulnerability in nova, published on 26 Nov 2019. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2011-4076 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- nova (PyPI): affected all versions; fixed in 12.0.0a0
- nova (PyPI): affected all versions; fixed in 12.0.0a0
- nova (PyPI): affected all versions; fixed in 12.0.0a0

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-4076/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-4076/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2011-4076
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2011-4076
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2011-4076

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-4076/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.