CVE-2023-50768 is a high-severity cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability affecting the Jenkins Nexus Platform Plugin versions 3.18.0-03 and earlier. Jenkins is a widely used open-source automation server that facilitates continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines. The Nexus Platform Plugin integrates with Sonatype Nexus Repository Manager to manage software components and dependencies within Jenkins pipelines. This vulnerability allows an attacker to exploit CSRF to force a Jenkins server to connect to an attacker-controlled HTTP server using credentials IDs that the attacker has previously obtained through other means. By leveraging this, the attacker can capture credentials stored in Jenkins, potentially exposing sensitive authentication tokens or passwords used in build and deployment processes. The vulnerability does not require prior authentication (PR:N) but does require user interaction (UI:R), meaning the attacker must trick a user into performing an action, such as clicking a malicious link or visiting a crafted webpage. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 8.8, reflecting high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The attack vector is network-based (AV:N), with low attack complexity (AC:L). The vulnerability is categorized under CWE-352 (Cross-Site Request Forgery). No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no official patches have been linked yet. However, given the critical role Jenkins plays in software development pipelines, exploitation could lead to credential theft, unauthorized access to internal systems, and disruption of automated build and deployment workflows.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a significant risk, especially for enterprises relying on Jenkins for their CI/CD pipelines. Compromise of Jenkins credentials can lead to unauthorized access to internal repositories, deployment environments, and potentially production systems. This can result in intellectual property theft, insertion of malicious code into software builds, and disruption of critical business operations. Organizations in sectors such as finance, manufacturing, telecommunications, and government agencies—where software integrity and availability are paramount—could face severe operational and reputational damage. Additionally, the exposure of credentials could facilitate lateral movement within corporate networks, escalating the impact beyond the initial Jenkins environment. Given the cross-site nature of the attack, employees interacting with Jenkins dashboards or related web interfaces are potential vectors, increasing the risk in environments with less stringent endpoint security or user awareness.

To mitigate this vulnerability effectively, European organizations should: 1) Immediately review and restrict the use of the Jenkins Nexus Platform Plugin, especially versions 3.18.0-03 and earlier, and monitor for updates or patches from the Jenkins project. 2) Implement strict Content Security Policies (CSP) and SameSite cookie attributes to reduce CSRF attack surface. 3) Enforce multi-factor authentication (MFA) for Jenkins access to reduce the risk of credential misuse. 4) Limit the exposure of Jenkins web interfaces to trusted networks or VPNs to reduce attack vectors. 5) Conduct regular audits of stored credentials within Jenkins and rotate them if compromise is suspected. 6) Educate users about phishing and social engineering risks to prevent inadvertent triggering of CSRF attacks. 7) Employ web application firewalls (WAFs) with CSRF protection rules to detect and block suspicious requests. 8) Monitor Jenkins logs for unusual connection attempts to external servers or anomalous credential usage patterns. These steps go beyond generic advice by focusing on reducing the attack surface specific to CSRF and credential exposure in Jenkins environments.