CVE-2024-3625 identifies a security vulnerability in Quay, a popular container image registry, where a password is stored in plaintext within the mirror-registry's Jinja templating configuration file named config.yaml. This file contains credentials used to access Quay's Redis instance, a key-value store often used for caching and session management. Because the password is stored without encryption or obfuscation, any malicious actor or insider with read access to this file can extract the Redis credentials and gain unauthorized access to the Redis instance. This can lead to unauthorized data access, manipulation, or potential lateral movement within the environment. The vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 score of 7.3, indicating high severity, with an attack vector classified as adjacent network (AV:A), low attack complexity (AC:L), requiring low privileges (PR:L), no user interaction (UI:N), and impacting confidentiality and integrity but not availability. No known exploits have been reported yet, but the flaw represents a significant risk due to the sensitive nature of the stored credentials and the critical role Redis often plays in infrastructure. The vulnerability was published on April 25, 2024, and assigned by Red Hat. No patches or fixes are currently linked, so organizations must rely on configuration and access control mitigations until an official fix is released.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to the confidentiality and integrity of container registry environments. Quay is widely used in enterprise container deployments, and Redis is often integrated for caching and session management. Unauthorized access to Redis could allow attackers to manipulate registry data, disrupt container deployments, or escalate privileges within the infrastructure. This could lead to exposure of sensitive container images, disruption of CI/CD pipelines, or compromise of production environments. Organizations in sectors with high container adoption, such as finance, manufacturing, and telecommunications, may face operational disruptions and compliance risks, especially under GDPR regulations concerning data protection. The vulnerability's exploitation requires only low privileges and no user interaction, increasing the likelihood of insider threats or lateral movement attacks. The absence of known exploits provides a window for proactive mitigation, but the potential impact remains high if exploited.

1. Restrict access to the mirror-registry's config.yaml file to only essential personnel and processes using strict file system permissions and access control lists. 2. Implement encryption or secrets management solutions to avoid storing plaintext passwords in configuration files; consider integrating with vault services like HashiCorp Vault or Kubernetes Secrets. 3. Monitor and audit access to configuration files and Redis instances to detect unauthorized access attempts promptly. 4. Network-segment Redis instances to limit exposure only to trusted hosts and services, reducing the attack surface. 5. Regularly review and rotate credentials stored in configuration files to minimize the window of exposure. 6. Stay updated with Quay and Red Hat advisories for official patches or configuration changes addressing this vulnerability and apply them promptly. 7. Employ container security best practices, including image scanning and runtime protection, to detect anomalous behavior stemming from compromised Redis access.