CVE-2024-10451 is a vulnerability identified in the Red Hat build of Keycloak, an open-source identity and access management solution widely used for authentication and authorization services. The flaw arises during the build process of Keycloak versions up to 26.0.2, where sensitive runtime values, including passwords and other credentials specified in environment variables, are inadvertently captured and embedded as default values within the compiled bytecode. This occurs due to the unconditional expansion of environment variables by the PropertyMapper logic, which processes SPI options and Quarkus properties. As a result, sensitive data that should remain confidential becomes accessible during runtime, potentially exposing secrets to unauthorized parties who can inspect the bytecode or runtime environment. The vulnerability affects all Keycloak versions up to 26.0.2, with the Red Hat build of Keycloak 24 explicitly mentioned. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 5.9, reflecting a medium severity level, with a vector indicating network attack vector (AV:N), high attack complexity (AC:H), no privileges required (PR:N), no user interaction (UI:N), unchanged scope (S:U), high confidentiality impact (C:H), and no impact on integrity or availability (I:N/A:N). No known exploits have been reported in the wild, but the nature of the vulnerability means that if exploited, attackers could gain access to sensitive credentials embedded in the application, potentially leading to further compromise of systems relying on Keycloak for authentication.

For European organizations, the primary impact of CVE-2024-10451 is the potential exposure of sensitive credentials embedded within the Keycloak runtime environment. This can lead to unauthorized access to identity and access management systems, undermining the confidentiality of user credentials and potentially enabling lateral movement within networks. Given Keycloak's role in managing authentication for numerous applications and services, credential leakage could cascade into broader security breaches, including unauthorized data access or privilege escalation. The vulnerability does not directly affect system integrity or availability but compromises the confidentiality of critical secrets. Organizations relying on Red Hat's Keycloak build, especially in sectors with stringent data protection requirements such as finance, healthcare, and government, face increased risk of regulatory non-compliance and reputational damage if sensitive data is exposed. The medium severity rating suggests that while exploitation is not trivial, the potential consequences warrant timely remediation to prevent information disclosure.

To mitigate CVE-2024-10451, European organizations should implement the following specific measures: 1) Review and sanitize all environment variables used during the Keycloak build process to ensure no sensitive data such as passwords or secrets are directly specified or exposed. 2) Upgrade to Keycloak versions later than 26.0.2 where this vulnerability has been addressed or apply vendor-provided patches as soon as they become available. 3) Implement strict build environment controls, including segregating build and runtime environments to prevent leakage of sensitive build-time data into runtime artifacts. 4) Use secure secret management solutions to inject secrets at runtime rather than embedding them during build time. 5) Conduct thorough code and bytecode audits to detect any embedded sensitive information before deployment. 6) Monitor Keycloak runtime environments for unusual access patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. 7) Limit network exposure of Keycloak instances to trusted internal networks or VPNs to reduce attack surface. 8) Educate development and DevOps teams about secure build practices and the risks of embedding secrets in code artifacts.