CVE-2024-7558: JUJU_CONTEXT_ID is a predictable authentication secret

JUJU_CONTEXT_ID is the authentication measure on the unit hook tool abstract domain socket. It looks like JUJU_CONTEXT_ID=appname/0-update-status-6073989428498739633.

This value looks fairly unpredictable, but due to the random source used, it is highly predictable.

JUJU_CONTEXT_ID has the following components:

• the application name
• the unit number
• the hook being currently run
• a uint63 decimal number

On a system the application name and unit number can be deduced by reading the structure of the filesystem. The current hook being run is not easily deduce-able, but is a limited set of possible values, so one could try them all. Finally the random number, this is generated from a non cryptographically secure random source. Specifically the random number generator built into the go standard library, using the current unix time in seconds (at startup) as the seed.

There is no rate limiting on the abstract domain socket, the only limiting factor is time (window of time the hook is run) and memory (how much memory is available to facilitate all the connections).