CVE-2022-38580 is a critical Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) vulnerability affecting Zalando Skipper version 0.13.236. Zalando Skipper is an open-source HTTP router and reverse proxy used primarily in microservices architectures to route and manage HTTP traffic. SSRF vulnerabilities allow an attacker to induce the server-side application to make HTTP requests to arbitrary domains or IP addresses, potentially bypassing network access controls. In this case, the vulnerability allows unauthenticated remote attackers to send crafted requests through the Skipper proxy, leading to full confidentiality, integrity, and availability compromise as indicated by the CVSS 3.1 score of 9.8. The attack vector is network-based (AV:N), requires no privileges (PR:N), and no user interaction (UI:N). Exploitation can result in unauthorized internal network scanning, access to sensitive internal services, data exfiltration, or further lateral movement within the victim environment. Although no known exploits in the wild have been reported, the high severity and ease of exploitation make this a significant threat. The lack of patch links suggests that users must seek updates or mitigations directly from the Zalando Skipper project or community. Given the role of Skipper in routing and proxying, this vulnerability can be leveraged to pivot into internal networks or cloud infrastructure, making it a critical risk for organizations using this software in production environments.

For European organizations, the impact of this SSRF vulnerability is substantial. Many enterprises and service providers in Europe utilize microservices architectures and may deploy Zalando Skipper as part of their infrastructure. Exploitation could lead to unauthorized access to internal systems, exposure of sensitive data, disruption of services, and potential compliance violations under GDPR due to data breaches. The ability to perform SSRF attacks without authentication increases the attack surface, especially for externally facing services. Critical sectors such as finance, healthcare, and government could face severe operational and reputational damage if attackers leverage this vulnerability to access confidential information or disrupt services. Additionally, the vulnerability could be exploited to bypass network segmentation controls, facilitating further attacks within the network. The absence of known exploits in the wild does not diminish the urgency for European organizations to assess their exposure and implement mitigations promptly.

European organizations should immediately inventory their environments to identify any deployments of Zalando Skipper, particularly version 0.13.236. If found, they should seek the latest patched versions or updates from the Zalando Skipper project or community repositories. In the absence of an official patch, organizations should implement strict network-level controls to restrict outbound requests from the Skipper proxy to only trusted destinations, effectively limiting SSRF exploitation. Employing Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) with SSRF detection rules can help detect and block malicious requests. Additionally, organizations should enforce strict input validation and sanitization on any user-supplied URLs or parameters that Skipper processes. Monitoring and logging of proxy requests should be enhanced to detect anomalous or unexpected outbound connections. Finally, segmenting internal networks and limiting the proxy's access to sensitive internal resources can reduce the potential impact of exploitation.