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Openshift Service MeshApplication · Redhat

CVE-2021-3586

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-08-22
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
A flaw was found in servicemesh-operator. The NetworkPolicy resources installed for Maistra do not properly specify which ports may be accessed, allowing access to all ports on these resources from any pod. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity as well as system availability.

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 servicemesh-operator creates NetworkPolicy resources for Maistra that fail to specify explicit port definitions, resulting in permissive access to all ports from any pod. This allows unrestricted network access to service mesh control plane components, compromising network segmentation and enabling potential lateral movement by attackers.

MitigationUpdate the servicemesh-operator to generate NetworkPolicy resources with explicit port specifications, restricting access to only required ports (typically 15000-15010 for control plane) from authorized sources.

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:= 2.0
Servicemesh OperatorApplication
Affected:= 2.0.5.1

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 servicemesh-operator is installed
    Run 'oc get csv -n openshift-operators' or 'kubectl get csv -n openshift-operators' to list installed operators and look for servicemesh-operator
    Affected if servicemesh-operator appears in the output with version 2.0.5.1
  2. Verify the exact operator version
    Check the operator version in the CSV output from the previous step - look for version 2.0.5.1
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 2.0.5.1 for the servicemesh-operator
  3. Check for NetworkPolicy resources in Service Mesh namespaces
    Run 'oc get networkpolicies -n <istio-system>' or 'kubectl get networkpolicies -n <istio-system>' where <istio-system> is the control plane namespace
    Affected if NetworkPolicy resources exist in the Service Mesh control plane namespace
  4. Inspect NetworkPolicy port specifications
    Run 'oc get networkpolicies <policyname> -n <istio-system> -o yaml' or 'kubectl get networkpolicies <policyname> -n <istio-system> -o yaml' for each policy and examine the 'spec.ingress' section for port definitions
    Affected if The NetworkPolicy does NOT contain explicit 'ports' definitions under spec.ingress[].from[].ports, meaning it allows all ports (empty or missing port specifications)
  5. Verify permissive access to all ports
    Examine the NetworkPolicy YAML output - check if the policy has ingress rules without specified ports or with port: null, which indicates all ports are permitted
    Affected if Ingress rules allow traffic without specifying explicit port numbers, resulting in unrestricted access to all ports

You are affected if the servicemesh-operator version 2.0.5.1 is installed AND the NetworkPolicy resources it creates lack explicit port definitions in their ingress rules.

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

Update the servicemesh-operator to generate NetworkPolicy resources with explicit port specifications, restricting access to only required ports (typically 15000-15010 for control plane) from authorized sources.

Fix this in Openshift Service Mesh Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing10.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
32.0 hours of engineering $5,580
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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-2021-3586 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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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