CVE-2023-5625 is a vulnerability identified in the Red Hat build of python-eventlet, specifically within the Ironic content component of Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.12. The root cause is a regression introduced by a change in the patch application strategy, which led to the patch for CVE-2021-21419 not being applied across all builds and products. This regression results in an allocation of resources without limits or throttling, a classic case of CWE-400 (Uncontrolled Resource Consumption). The vulnerability allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to trigger excessive resource consumption, potentially causing denial of service (DoS) conditions by exhausting CPU, memory, or other system resources. The attack vector is network-based with low attack complexity, requiring no privileges or user interaction. Although no known exploits have been reported in the wild, the vulnerability poses a risk to availability of services running on affected OpenShift clusters. The issue is particularly relevant for environments relying on the Red Hat Ironic content for bare metal provisioning and management within OpenShift 4.12. The CVSS v3.1 score of 5.3 reflects a medium severity, emphasizing impact on availability without compromising confidentiality or integrity. The lack of patch links suggests that remediation may require coordination with Red Hat support or updates in subsequent releases.

For European organizations, the primary impact of CVE-2023-5625 is on the availability of critical container orchestration infrastructure, specifically those using Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.12 with Ironic content. Exploitation could lead to denial of service, disrupting cloud-native applications, CI/CD pipelines, and bare metal provisioning workflows. This disruption can affect business continuity, especially for sectors relying heavily on containerized environments such as finance, telecommunications, manufacturing, and public services. The vulnerability does not impact confidentiality or integrity directly but could be leveraged as part of a broader attack chain to degrade service reliability. Organizations with large-scale OpenShift deployments or those providing managed OpenShift services are at higher risk. The absence of known exploits reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the threat, particularly given the ease of exploitation and network accessibility. Additionally, resource exhaustion attacks can increase operational costs and complicate incident response efforts.

To mitigate CVE-2023-5625, European organizations should first verify whether their OpenShift 4.12 deployments include the affected Red Hat Ironic content and python-eventlet builds. They should engage with Red Hat support to obtain or confirm the availability of patches that correctly apply the fix for CVE-2021-21419. Until patches are applied, implement resource usage monitoring and alerting on OpenShift nodes to detect abnormal consumption patterns indicative of exploitation attempts. Employ network-level controls such as rate limiting and firewall rules to restrict access to Ironic services to trusted sources only. Consider isolating or segmenting the Ironic service within the network to minimize exposure. Regularly update and audit container platform components to ensure regressions are promptly identified and addressed. Additionally, incorporate this vulnerability into incident response playbooks to enable rapid detection and mitigation of potential denial of service events. Finally, maintain awareness of Red Hat advisories for any new developments or patches related to this issue.