Executive Summary

This vulnerability occurs in the Elasticsearch logging provider of Apache Airflow when it is configured with a host URL that includes embedded credentials, such as a username and password within the URL.

The issue is that the full host URL, including these embedded credentials, was written into task logs. Since any user with permission to read task logs could access these logs, they could potentially harvest the backend credentials.

The vulnerability was fixed by introducing a function to strip out the user information from the URLs before logging, so sensitive authentication details are no longer exposed in the logs.

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Compliance Impact

This vulnerability exposes embedded backend credentials in task logs to any user with task-log read permission, potentially leading to unauthorized access to sensitive authentication information.

Such exposure of sensitive credentials could lead to non-compliance with common security and privacy standards and regulations like GDPR and HIPAA, which require protection of sensitive data and access controls to prevent unauthorized disclosure.

Organizations using affected versions of the Apache Airflow Elasticsearch provider should upgrade to version 6.5.3 or later and avoid embedding credentials in URLs, instead using secret backends, to mitigate risks and maintain compliance.

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Impact Analysis

If you use the Elasticsearch logging provider with embedded credentials in the host URL, this vulnerability could expose your backend authentication credentials to any user who has permission to read task logs.

This exposure could lead to unauthorized access to your Elasticsearch backend, potentially compromising your data and system integrity.

To mitigate this risk, it is recommended to upgrade to apache-airflow-providers-elasticsearch version 6.5.3 or later and to configure backend credentials using a secret backend rather than embedding them directly in the URL.

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Detection Guidance

This vulnerability can be detected by inspecting task logs generated by the Elasticsearch logging provider in Apache Airflow to see if they contain URLs with embedded credentials (e.g., URLs containing username and password). Any presence of such URLs in task logs indicates exposure of sensitive credentials.

You can search the task logs for patterns matching URLs with embedded credentials, such as strings containing 'http://' or 'https://' followed by 'user:password@'.

• Use command-line tools like grep to search logs for embedded credentials, for example: `grep -r -E 'https?://[^@]+@' /path/to/airflow/logs`
• Check task logs for any entries that include full host URLs with userinfo embedded.

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Mitigation Strategies

To mitigate this vulnerability, upgrade the Apache Airflow Elasticsearch provider to version 6.5.3 or later, where the issue has been fixed by stripping userinfo from URLs before logging.

As a defense-in-depth measure, avoid embedding credentials directly in the Elasticsearch host URL. Instead, configure backend credentials using a secret backend mechanism.

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