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OpenshiftApplication · Redhat

CVE-2019-19351

HIGH · 7.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-03-18
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
72/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
An insecure modification vulnerability in the /etc/passwd file was found in the container openshift/jenkins. An attacker with access to the container could use this flaw to modify /etc/passwd and escalate their privileges. This CVE is specific to the openshift/jenkins-slave-base-rhel7-containera as shipped in Openshift 4 and 3.11.

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

The jenkins-slave-base-rhel7 container image has incorrect file permissions on /etc/passwd, making it writable by non-root users. An attacker who gains container access (even limited) can modify /etc/passwd to add a new root user or change UID mappings, achieving privilege escalation to root on the container.

MitigationRebuild or update the container image to ensure /etc/passwd is owned by root and has read-only permissions (typically 644 or 444). Verify that the container runs with a read-only root filesystem and that persistent volume claims do not expose /etc/passwd as writable.

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
OpenshiftApplication
Affected:= 3.11= 4.0

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
Local
Complexity
High
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

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 if jenkins-slave-base-rhel7 image is in use
    Run 'oc get is -A | grep jenkins-slave-base-rhel7' (OpenShift 3.x) or 'oc get imagestreams -A | grep jenkins-slave-base-rhel7' (OpenShift 4.x) to list imagestreams. Also check running pods with 'oc get pods -A -o jsonpath={.items[*].spec.containers[*].image}' for references to this image.
    Affected if The jenkins-slane-base-rhel7 image is deployed as an imagestream or used by any running pods in the cluster.
  2. Check /etc/passwd permissions inside running containers
    For any running pod using the affected image, exec into the container and run 'ls -la /etc/passwd'. Check the file permissions (the first column).
    Affected if The permissions on /etc/passwd are anything other than read-only for group/other (e.g., 644, 664, or writable like 666). If you see 'w' permissions for group or other users, the container is vulnerable.
  3. Verify non-root user write access to /etc/passwd
    As a non-root user inside the container (or by checking if a non-root user exists), attempt to write to /etc/passwd using 'su - <non-root-user> -c "echo test >> /etc/passwd"' or check if the file is world-writable.
    Affected if A non-root user can successfully modify /etc/passwd, indicating the vulnerability is exploitable.
  4. Check container security context for read-only root filesystem
    Run 'oc get pod <pod-name> -o jsonpath={.spec.containers[*].securityContext.readOnlyRootFilesystem}' to see if the container is configured with a read-only root filesystem.
    Affected if readOnlyRootFilesystem is not set to true, meaning /etc/passwd can potentially be modified even if the image were rebuilt.

A user is affected if the jenkins-slave-base-rhel7 image is in use AND /etc/passwd inside the container has writable permissions for non-root users (typically showing 'w' in group or other permission bits).

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Rebuild or update the container image to ensure /etc/passwd is owned by root and has read-only permissions (typically 644 or 444). Verify that the container runs with a read-only root filesystem and that persistent volume claims do not expose /etc/passwd as writable.

Fix this in Openshift Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $2,000
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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-2019-19351 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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