Openshift Container PlatformApplication · Redhat
CVE-2020-27833
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 · uneditedA Zip Slip vulnerability was found in the oc binary in openshift-clients where an arbitrary file write is achieved by using a specially crafted raw container image (.tar file) which contains symbolic links. The vulnerability is limited to the command `oc image extract`. If a symbolic link is first created pointing within the tarball, this allows further symbolic links to bypass the existing path check. This flaw allows the tarball to create links outside the tarball's parent directory, allowing for executables or configuration files to be overwritten, resulting in arbitrary code execution. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to confidentiality, integrity, as well as system availability. Versions up to and including openshift-clients-4.7.0-202104250659.p0.git.95881af are affected.
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 confidenceA Zip Slip vulnerability exists in the OpenShift CLI (oc) binary's `oc image extract` command. Attackers can craft malicious .tar container images containing symbolic links that first point within the tarball, then bypass path validation to create symbolic links pointing outside the extraction directory. This allows overwriting system executables or configuration files, leading to arbitrary code execution.
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 Container PlatformApplication
<= 4.7CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/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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Verify oc client is installedRun `oc version` or check if the oc binary exists in your PATH using `which oc`Affected if The oc command is not found or returns an error, meaning the client is not installed and this vulnerability does not apply
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Determine oc client versionRun `oc version --client` to display the installed OpenShift CLI versionAffected if The displayed version is earlier than or equal to 4.7 (specifically <= 4.7.0-202104250659.p0.git.95881af), indicating the vulnerable version is in use
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Identify use of oc image extract commandSearch your scripts, automation, CI/CD pipelines, and documentation for usage of the `oc image extract` command using grep or file search toolsAffected if The `oc image extract` command is actively used in your environment, enabling the vulnerable code path
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Assess source of extracted container imagesReview which container image sources (registries) are being used with `oc image extract`, checking if they include untrusted or third-party registriesAffected if You extract container images from untrusted or unverified sources, increasing the risk that a malicious tar archive could be processed
You are affected if you run oc client version 4.7 or earlier AND use the `oc image extract` command, particularly on images from untrusted sources.
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 dataUpdate openshift-clients to a version newer than 4.7.0-202104250659.p0.git.95881af. Additionally, avoid extracting container images from untrusted sources using `oc image extract`.
Fix this in Openshift Container Platform
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-27833 — 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-2020-27833 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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