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OpenshiftApplication · Redhat

CVE-2023-0229

MEDIUM · 6.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-01-26
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
69/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable 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 github.com/openshift/apiserver-library-go, used in OpenShift 4.12 and 4.11, that contains an issue that can allow low-privileged users to set the seccomp profile for pods they control to "unconfined." By default, the seccomp profile used in the restricted-v2 Security Context Constraint (SCC) is "runtime/default," allowing users to disable seccomp for pods they can create and modify.

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 flaw in github.com/openshift/apiserver-library-go allows low-privileged users to set seccomp profiles to 'unconfined' for pods they control, bypassing the restricted-v2 Security Context Constraint that should enforce 'runtime/default'. This permits users to disable seccomp protection for pods they can create or modify.

MitigationApply the OpenShift security update that patches the apiserver-library-go vulnerability in versions 4.11 and 4.12, and verify that the restricted-v2 SCC correctly enforces the runtime/default seccomp profile.

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:= 4.11= 4.12

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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 OpenShift cluster version
    Run 'oc get clusterversion' or check the cluster version in the OpenShift web console under Administration > Cluster Settings
    Affected if The cluster version is 4.11 or 4.12 (both affected versions)
  2. Verify restricted-v2 SCC configuration
    Run 'oc get scc restricted-v2 -o yaml' and inspect the seccompProfiles field under seccompProfiles or within the default Pod Security standards configuration
    Affected if The SCC does not properly enforce 'runtime/default' or allows 'unconfined' as a valid seccomp profile option
  3. Check for pods using unconfined seccomp profile
    Run 'oc get pods --all-namespaces -o jsonpath="{.items[*].spec.securityContext.seccompProfile}"' or query the API server for pods where spec.securityContext.seccompProfile.type equals 'Unconfined'
    Affected if Any pod exists with seccompProfile.type set to 'Unconfined' that was created by a low-privileged user who should be constrained by restricted-v2
  4. Audit user permissions on SCCs
    Run 'oc auth can-i use --list --as=<username>' for suspected low-privileged users to check if they can bypass SCC restrictions, and review 'oc get rolebinding -A -o wide' to identify bindings to users who should not modify seccomp
    Affected if Users without cluster-admin privileges can create or modify pods with unconfined seccomp profiles despite restricted-v2 being applied

A user is affected if running OpenShift 4.11 or 4.12 and low-privileged users can set pod seccomp profiles to 'unconfined' despite the restricted-v2 SCC being enforced.

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

Apply the OpenShift security update that patches the apiserver-library-go vulnerability in versions 4.11 and 4.12, and verify that the restricted-v2 SCC correctly enforces the runtime/default seccomp profile.

Fix this in Openshift Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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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-2023-0229 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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