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External ProvisionerApplication · Kubernetes

CVE-2019-11255

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-12-05
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 1.2.1 or later.
See remediation →
71/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Improper input validation in Kubernetes CSI sidecar containers for external-provisioner (<v0.4.3, <v1.0.2, v1.1, <v1.2.2, <v1.3.1), external-snapshotter (<v0.4.2, <v1.0.2, v1.1, <1.2.2), and external-resizer (v0.1, v0.2) could result in unauthorized PersistentVolume data access or volume mutation during snapshot, restore from snapshot, cloning and resizing operations.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Improper input validation in Kubernetes CSI sidecar containers (external-provisioner, external-snapshotter, external-resizer) allows unauthorized PersistentVolume data access or volume mutation during snapshot, restore, cloning, and resizing operations due to insufficient validation of user-supplied input parameters.

MitigationUpgrade affected CSI sidecar containers to patched versions (external-provisioner v0.4.3+, v1.0.2+, v1.2.2+, v1.3.1+; external-snapshotter v0.4.2+, v1.0.2+, v1.2.2+; external-resizer v0.3+) to remediate the input validation vulnerability.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
External ProvisionerApplication
Affected:>= 0.4.1, <= 0.4.2>= 1.0.0, <= 1.0.1>= 1.1.0, <= 1.2.1= 1.3.0
External ResizerApplication
Affected:>= 0.1.0, <= 0.2.0
External SnapshotterApplication
Affected:>= 0.4.0, <= 0.4.1>= 1.0.0, <= 1.0.1>= 1.1.0, <= 1.2.1
Openshift Container PlatformApplication
Affected:= 3.11= 4.1= 4.2

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify deployed CSI sidecar containers
    Run 'kubectl get pods --all-namespaces | grep -E "(external-provisioner|external-snapshotter|external-resizer)" -A1' to list pods running these sidecar containers in the cluster
    Affected if No CSI sidecar pods are found, then this CVE does not apply
  2. Check external-provisioner version
    Run 'kubectl get pods -n <namespace> -o jsonpath="{.items[*].spec.containers[?(@.name=='csi-provisioner')].image}"' to retrieve the container image, then parse the version tag (e.g., quay.io/k8scsi/csi-provisioner:v1.2.1)
    Affected if The version is >= 0.4.1 and <= 0.4.2, OR >= 1.0.0 and <= 1.0.1, OR >= 1.1.0 and <= 1.2.1, OR = 1.3.0
  3. Check external-snapshotter version
    Run 'kubectl get pods -n <namespace> -o jsonpath="{.items[*].spec.containers[?(@.name=='csi-snapshotter')].image}"' to retrieve the container image, then parse the version tag (e.g., quay.io/k8scsi/csi-snapshotter:v1.2.1)
    Affected if The version is >= 0.4.0 and <= 0.4.1, OR >= 1.0.0 and <= 1.0.1, OR >= 1.1.0 and <= 1.2.1
  4. Check external-resizer version
    Run 'kubectl get pods -n <namespace> -o jsonpath="{.items[*].spec.containers[?(@.name=='csi-resizer')].image}"' to retrieve the container image, then parse the version tag (e.g., quay.io/k8scsi/csi-resizer:v0.2.0)
    Affected if The version is >= 0.1.0 and <= 0.2.0

If any deployed CSI sidecar container (external-provisioner, external-snapshotter, or external-resizer) matches the affected version ranges, the cluster is vulnerable to unauthorized PersistentVolume data access or volume mutation during snapshot, restore, cloning, and resizing operations.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 1.2.1
Interim mitigation

Upgrade affected CSI sidecar containers to patched versions (external-provisioner v0.4.3+, v1.0.2+, v1.2.2+, v1.3.1+; external-snapshotter v0.4.2+, v1.0.2+, v1.2.2+; external-resizer v0.3+) to remediate the input validation vulnerability.

Fix this in External Provisioner Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,600.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-11255 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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