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Openshift Service MeshApplication · Redhat

CVE-2020-1704

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-02-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.0.8 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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 all versions of OpenShift ServiceMesh (maistra) before 1.0.8 in the openshift/istio-kialia-rhel7-operator-container. An attacker with access to the container could use this flaw to modify /etc/passwd and escalate their privileges.

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

A privilege escalation vulnerability exists in OpenShift ServiceMesh (maistra) versions before 1.0.8 where the istio-kialia-rhel7-operator container allows insecure modification of /etc/passwd. An attacker with container access can modify this file to add a root-equivalent user or change existing user UIDs to 0, achieving privilege escalation to root on the host system.

MitigationUpgrade the maistra operator to version 1.0.8 or later. Additionally, ensure containers run with non-root user context and restrict filesystem permissions to prevent modification of sensitive system files like /etc/passwd.

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
Openshift Service MeshApplication
Affected:< 1.0.8

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/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. Verify OpenShift Service Mesh is installed
    Run 'oc get clusterserviceversion -A | grep -i maistra' or 'oc get subscription -A | grep -i maistra' to check if the maistra operator is present in the cluster
    Affected if No maistra operator is found - the environment is not affected by this CVE
  2. Identify the installed maistra operator version
    Run 'oc get clusterserviceversion -A -o jsonpath={.items[?(@.spec.displayName contains "Maistra")].spec.version}' to retrieve the installed version
    Affected if The returned version is less than 1.0.8 (e.g., 1.0.7, 1.0.6, etc.) - the environment is vulnerable
  3. Check for the istio-kialia-rhel7-operator pod
    Run 'oc get pods -A | grep -i istio-kialia' to locate pods with the vulnerable container image
    Affected if The pod exists and is running - the container is present and could be exploited if version is vulnerable
  4. Inspect the container security context
    Run 'oc get pod <pod-name> -n <namespace> -o jsonpath={.spec.containers[?(@.image contains "istio-kialia")].securityContext}' to check if the container runs as root or has privileged access
    Affected if runAsUser is set to 0 (root) or privileged is true - modification of /etc/passwd is possible
  5. Verify write access to /etc/passwd inside the container
    Execute 'oc exec -it <pod-name> -n <namespace> -- ls -la /etc/passwd' and check write permissions, or inspect the pod security context for fsGroup or supplementalGroups that allow root GID access
    Affected if The file is writable (mode shows 'w' for owner/group) or the container runs with a security context that permits root-equivalent modification

The environment is affected by CVE-2020-1704 if OpenShift Service Mesh (maistra) is installed with a version before 1.0.8 and the istio-kialia-rhel7-operator container has root-level access that permits modification of /etc/passwd.

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 1.0.8 or later
Fixed in 1.0.8
Interim mitigation

Upgrade the maistra operator to version 1.0.8 or later. Additionally, ensure containers run with non-root user context and restrict filesystem permissions to prevent modification of sensitive system files like /etc/passwd.

Fix this in Openshift Service Mesh Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,980
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,168.

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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-2020-1704 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
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  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data