Description
Ceph is an open-source distributed storage platform providing object, block, and file storage. In versions prior to 20.2.4 and 19.2.6, the RADOS Gateway (RGW) protects STS session tokens with an AES-128-CBC handler that provides no message authentication, allowing an attacker who holds any valid STS token to tamper with it undetected and escalate to full RGW administrative access. Because the ciphertext is unauthenticated, the attacker can perform a CBC bit-flip on the acct_type, perm_type, and is_admin fields of their own token, and a forged is_admin value triggers a global administrative override that bypasses all capability checks. The attack is reachable remotely over the RGW S3 endpoint and is a self-contained modification of a token the attacker already possesses, requiring no encryption oracle and no network observation. It requires only a single valid STS token, which need not carry any elevated privileges, with STS enabled. This issue is fixed in versions 20.2.4 and 19.2.6.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| ceph | ceph | >= 19.0.0, < 19.2.6, >= 20.0.0, < 20.2.4 | — |
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | ceph | 20.2.4+ds-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | ceph | No fix yet | — |
| Debian 12 | ceph | No fix yet | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 26.10 | ceph | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | ceph | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | ceph | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | ceph | No fix yet | — |
Show 1 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS | ceph | No fix yet | — |
Red Hat
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Ceph Storage 8 | ceph +27 | 2:19.2.1-423.el9cp | RHSA-2026:79101 |
Advisories 1
- RHSA-2026:79101 Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat Ceph Storage 8.1 security and bug fix updates Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Oct 17, 2026