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OpenshiftApplication · Redhat

CVE-2020-35514

HIGH · 7.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-06-02
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.7.0 or later.
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 flaw in the /etc/kubernetes/kubeconfig file was found in OpenShift. This flaw allows an attacker with access to a running container which mounts /etc/kubernetes or has local access to the node, to copy this kubeconfig file and attempt to add their own node to the OpenShift cluster. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to confidentiality, integrity, as well as system availability. This flaw affects versions before openshift4/ose-machine-config-operator v4.7.0-202105111858.p0.

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 · moderate confidence

An insecure modification flaw in the /etc/kubernetes/kubeconfig file in OpenShift allows attackers with container or node access to copy the kubeconfig and potentially add unauthorized nodes to the cluster. This affects versions of openshift4/ose-machine-config-operator before v4.7.0-202105111858.p0.

MitigationUpgrade openshift4/ose-machine-config-operator to v4.7.0-202105111858.p0 or later to remediate the insecure kubeconfig file permissions.

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:< 4.7.0= 4.7.0

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. Check the openshift4/ose-machine-config-operator version
    Run 'oc get pods -n openshift-machine-config-operator' and then 'oc describe pod <machine-config-operator-pod-name> -n openshift-machine-config-operator | grep Image' or check the operator version via 'oc get clusteroperator machine-config -o jsonpath={.status.versions[].version}'
    Affected if The installed version is less than v4.7.0-202105111858.p0 or equals 4.7.0
  2. Inspect /etc/kubernetes/kubeconfig file permissions
    From a node or container with access, run 'ls -la /etc/kubernetes/kubeconfig' to view the file permissions
    Affected if The file permissions are world-readable (e.g., 644 or higher) or group-readable by a non-privileged group, indicating insecure modification risk
  3. Verify kubeconfig file ownership and access controls
    Run 'stat /etc/kubernetes/kubeconfig' to check owner, group, and access mode. Also check 'getfacl /etc/kubernetes/kubeconfig' if available
    Affected if The file is not owned by root:root or allows read access to non-privileged users or service accounts
  4. Confirm the kubeconfig contains valid credentials
    Run 'cat /etc/kubernetes/kubeconfig' and examine the 'user' section for embedded tokens or client certificates
    Affected if The kubeconfig file contains active credentials that could be reused to authenticate to the cluster API

A user is affected if the openshift4/ose-machine-config-operator version is below v4.7.0-202105111858.p0 AND the /etc/kubernetes/kubeconfig file has insecure permissions allowing unauthorized access.

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 4.7.0 or later
Fixed in 4.7.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade openshift4/ose-machine-config-operator to v4.7.0-202105111858.p0 or later to remediate the insecure kubeconfig file permissions.

Fix this in Openshift Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,408.

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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-2020-35514 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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