OpenshiftApplication · Redhat
CVE-2019-19355
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 · uneditedAn insecure modification vulnerability in the /etc/passwd file was found in the openshift/ocp-release-operator-sdk. 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/ansible-operator-container as shipped in Openshift 4.
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 confidenceThe openshift/ansible-operator-container shipped in OpenShift 4 contains an insecurely modifiable /etc/passwd file. An attacker with access to the running container can modify this file to add or alter user accounts, enabling privilege escalation to root or other users on the host system.
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
= 4.0CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify ansible-operator-container deploymentsRun 'oc get pods -A | grep ansible' or 'kubectl get pods -A | grep ansible' to find any running ansible-operator containers in the clusterAffected if Any pod named or containing 'ansible-operator' is found running in OpenShift 4.0
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Check /etc/passwd file permissions inside the containerExec into the container (oc exec -it <pod> -n <namespace> -- /bin/bash) and run 'ls -la /etc/passwd' to check permissions. Permissions should be 644 or read-only for the vulnerability to be mitigatedAffected if The /etc/passwd file shows write permissions for other users (permissions are not 644 or read-only)
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Inspect container security context for write accessRun 'oc get pod <podname> -n <namespace> -o jsonpath={.spec.containers[*].securityContext}' to check if the container security context allows writable filesystems or has elevated privilegesAffected if The securityContext allows writableFilesystem or has privileged: true, or runAsNonRoot is not set
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Verify container user namespace configurationCheck if the container runs as a non-root user by examining the securityContext runAsNonRoot field and the USER directive in the container image Dockerfile using 'oc describe pod <podname> | grep -i user'Affected if The container runs as root (UID 0) or runAsNonRoot is false or not set
A user is affected if an ansible-operator-container pod is running in OpenShift 4.0 and the /etc/passwd file inside it has write permissions for non-root users or the container security context allows writable filesystems.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataRebuild the container image with /etc/passwd set to read-only permissions (644, owned by root:root) and configure the container security context to prevent writes. Audit all container images in the OpenShift 4 deployment for similar issues.
Fix this in Openshift
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,088.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-19355 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-19355 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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