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Cri OApplication · Kubernetes

CVE-2022-27652

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-04-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 20.10.14 or later.
See remediation →
55/100
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
A flaw was found in cri-o, where containers were incorrectly started with non-empty default permissions. A vulnerability was found in Moby (Docker Engine) where containers started incorrectly with non-empty inheritable Linux process capabilities. This flaw allows an attacker with access to programs with inheritable file capabilities to elevate those capabilities to the permitted set when execve(2) runs.

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

This vulnerability affects container runtimes (cri-o and Moby/Docker Engine) where containers are incorrectly started with non-empty inheritable Linux process capabilities instead of empty inheritable capabilities. When a container process executes a program with inheritable file capabilities, those capabilities can be elevated to the permitted set via execve(2), allowing privilege escalation.

MitigationUpdate cri-o and Docker Engine to their patched versions that enforce empty inheritable capabilities for containers by default. After updating, verify container configurations to ensure proper capability isolation.

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
Cri OApplication
Affected:all versions
FedoraOperating system
Affected:= 35
Openshift Container PlatformApplication
Affected:= 3.11= 4.0
MobyApplication
Affected:< 20.10.14

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
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
Low

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L

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 container runtime in use
    Run 'crictl info' or 'docker version' to determine if cri-o or Moby/Docker is the active container runtime
    Affected if The runtime is cri-o (all versions) or Moby/Docker with version < 20.10.14
  2. Check Moby/Docker version
    Run 'docker --version' or 'dockerd --version' to obtain the exact version number
    Affected if Version is below 20.10.14 (for example, 20.10.13 or earlier)
  3. Verify container runtime configuration for inheritable capabilities
    Inspect container runtime config files (for Docker: /etc/docker/daemon.json, for cri-o: /etc/crio/crio.conf) and check for any capability-related settings; use 'docker inspect <container_id>' to inspect a running container's security profile
    Affected if Containers are configured with non-empty inheritable capabilities (the 'Inheritable' field in capability settings is not empty or defaults allow inherited capabilities)
  4. Test if containers can exec programs with inheritable file capabilities
    Run a container and attempt to execute a binary with file capabilities set (using 'getcap -r' on mounted filesystems inside the container); check if the inheritable set from the file can elevate to permitted set via execve(2)
    Affected if A container process can execute a program with inheritable file capabilities and gain those capabilities in its permitted set, enabling privilege escalation

You are affected if you use cri-o at any version, or Moby/Docker Engine version below 20.10.14, and your containers run with non-empty inheritable capabilities that allow privilege escalation via inheritable file capabilities.

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 20.10.14 or later
Fixed in 20.10.14
Interim mitigation

Update cri-o and Docker Engine to their patched versions that enforce empty inheritable capabilities for containers by default. After updating, verify container configurations to ensure proper capability isolation.

Fix this in Cri O Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2022-27652 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data