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Kube ApiserverApplication · Kubernetes

CVE-2023-1260

HIGH · 8.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-09-24
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
86/100
Remediation priority · High
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
An authentication bypass vulnerability was discovered in kube-apiserver. This issue could allow a remote, authenticated attacker who has been given permissions "update, patch" the "pods/ephemeralcontainers" subresource beyond what the default is. They would then need to create a new pod or patch one that they already have access to. This might allow evasion of SCC admission restrictions, thereby gaining control of a privileged pod.

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

kube-apiserver contains an authentication bypass where an authenticated attacker with update/patch permissions on the pods/ephemeralcontainers subresource beyond default can evade SCC (Security Context Constraints) admission restrictions, potentially gaining control of privileged pods.

MitigationReview and restrict RBAC roles to limit update/patch permissions on pods/ephemeralcontainers subresource to only necessary users, and update Kubernetes to patched version.

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
Kube ApiserverApplication
Affected:all versions
Openshift Container PlatformApplication
Affected:= 4.10= 4.11= 4.12= 4.13

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
High
Privileges
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/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 users with pods/ephemeralcontainers update/patch permissions
    Run 'kubectl get clusterrole -o yaml' and search for rules containing 'pods/ephemeralcontainers' with 'update' or 'patch' verbs. Also check 'kubectl get role -o yaml -A' for namespaced roles with these permissions.
    Affected if Any ClusterRole or Role grants update or patch permissions on pods/ephemeralcontainers subresource to users or service accounts beyond cluster-admins
  2. List ClusterRoleBindings granting ephemeralcontainers access
    Run 'kubectl get clusterrolebinding -o yaml' and filter for those referencing ClusterRoles that include pods/ephemeralcontainers with update/patch verbs. Use 'kubectl auth can-i update pods/ephemeralcontainers --as=<user>' to test specific users.
    Affected if Non-default ClusterRoleBindings exist that grant update/patch on pods/ephemeralcontainers to users other than system:cluster-admins
  3. Review RoleBindings in namespaces with privileged pods
    Check 'kubectl get rolebinding -o yaml -A' for any roles granting pods/ephemeralcontainers update/patch permissions in namespaces running privileged containers. Examine pod security context and SCC assignments via 'kubectl get pods -o yaml' in those namespaces.
    Affected if Users have update/patch permissions on pods/ephemeralcontainers in namespaces containing privileged pods or pods with elevated SCC assignments
  4. Audit service accounts with elevated RBAC
    Query 'kubectl auth can-i update pods/ephemeralcontainers --as=system:serviceaccount:<namespace>:<sa>' for service accounts. Check 'kubectl get serviceaccount -o yaml -A' and review which service accounts are bound to roles with these permissions.
    Affected if Any service account has update/patch permissions on pods/ephemeralcontainers subresource
  5. Check for existing privileged pod exploitation paths
    List all pods with privileged security context or SCC allowing privilege escalation: 'kubectl get pods -o yaml -A | grep -E -i "(privileged|allowPrivilegeEscalation|hostPID|hostNetwork)"'. Identify which namespaces contain these pods.
    Affected if Privileged pods exist in namespaces where users have pods/ephemeralcontainers update/patch permissions

A user is affected if they have been granted update or patch permissions on the pods/ephemeralcontainers subresource via any RBAC role or binding, regardless of Kubernetes version, since all versions are vulnerable.

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

Review and restrict RBAC roles to limit update/patch permissions on pods/ephemeralcontainers subresource to only necessary users, and update Kubernetes to patched version.

Fix this in Kube Apiserver Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,600
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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-2023-1260 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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