# CVE-2019-10694: Hardcoded credentials in Puppet Enterprise

> An overlooked default password for the admin user allows attackers to take over the Puppet Enterprise admin account if the setup URL is not used.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 11 Dec 2019
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-8h2m-rx7g-r9gv

## What is CVE-2019-10694?

CVE-2019-10694 is a critical vulnerability in Puppet Puppet Enterprise, published on 11 Dec 2019. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The express install, which is the suggested way to install Puppet Enterprise, gives the user a URL at the end of the install to set the admin password. If they do not use that URL, there is an overlooked default password for the admin user. This was resolved in Puppet Enterprise 2019.0.3 and 2018.1.9.

Weakness: CWE-798 (Use of Hard-coded Credentials)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-10694?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Puppet Puppet Enterprise.

## How do I fix CVE-2019-10694?

No fix has been published for CVE-2019-10694 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2019-10694 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-10694 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Puppet Puppet Enterprise

- [CVE-2023-2530](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-2530/): Privilege escalation in Puppet Enterprise (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2018-11749](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-11749/): Information disclosure in Puppet Enterprise (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2021-27020](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-27020/): Other in Puppet Enterprise (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2015-5686](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-5686/): Cross-site request forgery in n/a (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2016-5716](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-5716/): Code injection in Puppet Enterprise (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2019-10694 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2019-10694 is a critical vulnerability in Puppet Puppet Enterprise, published on 11 Dec 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-2019-10694 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Puppet Puppet Enterprise. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

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-2019-10694/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-10694/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-10694
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-10694
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-10694

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-10694/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.