CVE-2022-41253 is a high-severity cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability affecting the Jenkins CONS3RT Plugin version 1.0.0 and earlier. Jenkins is a widely used open-source automation server that facilitates continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD). The CONS3RT Plugin integrates Jenkins with the CONS3RT platform, enabling orchestration and automation of IT environments. This vulnerability allows an attacker to exploit the CSRF flaw to make a Jenkins instance connect to an attacker-controlled HTTP server using credentials IDs that the attacker has obtained through other means. Essentially, the attacker can trick an authenticated Jenkins user into executing unwanted actions without their consent, leveraging the user's privileges. By doing so, the attacker can capture credentials stored within Jenkins, leading to potential credential theft. The vulnerability is characterized by the CWE-352 category, indicating improper validation of CSRF tokens or lack thereof. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 8.8, reflecting a high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability, with no privileges required and only user interaction needed (UI:R). Although no known exploits are currently reported in the wild, the vulnerability's nature and severity make it a significant risk for Jenkins environments using this plugin. The absence of a patch link suggests that users should monitor the Jenkins project for updates or consider disabling the plugin until a fix is available.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a substantial risk, especially for those relying on Jenkins for their CI/CD pipelines and using the CONS3RT Plugin. Successful exploitation can lead to credential compromise, which may cascade into broader network infiltration, data breaches, and disruption of software development and deployment processes. Given the critical role of CI/CD in modern software development, any compromise can delay releases, introduce malicious code, or cause operational downtime. The confidentiality of sensitive project credentials and tokens is at stake, potentially exposing intellectual property and customer data. Integrity is also threatened as attackers could manipulate build processes or inject malicious artifacts. Availability may be impacted if attackers disrupt Jenkins operations or cause denial of service. European organizations in sectors such as finance, manufacturing, telecommunications, and government, which heavily depend on automated build and deployment tools, could face significant operational and reputational damage. Furthermore, regulatory frameworks like GDPR impose strict data protection requirements, and a breach resulting from this vulnerability could lead to regulatory penalties and loss of customer trust.

1. Immediate mitigation involves disabling the Jenkins CONS3RT Plugin if it is not essential to operations until a security patch is released. 2. Restrict access to Jenkins instances to trusted networks and users, implementing network segmentation and firewall rules to limit exposure. 3. Enforce strict user authentication and authorization policies within Jenkins, ensuring that only necessary users have access to sensitive plugins and credentials. 4. Monitor Jenkins logs and network traffic for unusual outbound connections, especially to unknown HTTP servers, which could indicate exploitation attempts. 5. Educate Jenkins users about the risks of CSRF attacks and encourage cautious behavior when interacting with Jenkins interfaces, particularly avoiding clicking on suspicious links while authenticated. 6. Regularly update Jenkins core and plugins to the latest versions once patches addressing this vulnerability are available. 7. Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) for Jenkins access to reduce the risk of credential misuse. 8. Use Jenkins credential masking and restrict credential scope to minimize the impact of any credential exposure. 9. Conduct security audits and penetration testing focusing on CI/CD pipelines to identify and remediate similar vulnerabilities proactively.