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OpenfeatureApplication · Linuxfoundation

CVE-2023-29018

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-04-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 0.2.32 or later.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
The OpenFeature Operator allows users to expose feature flags to applications. Assuming the pre-existence of a vulnerability that allows for arbitrary code execution, an attacker could leverage the lax permissions configured on `open-feature-operator-controller-manager` to escalate the privileges of any SA in the cluster. The increased privileges could be used to modify cluster state, leading to DoS, or read sensitive data, including secrets. Version 0.2.32 mitigates this issue by restricting the resources the `open-feature-operator-controller-manager` can 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

The OpenFeature Operator's controller-manager had overly permissive RBAC permissions that could be exploited (assuming an attacker already has arbitrary code execution) to escalate privileges of any ServiceAccount in the cluster, potentially allowing modification of cluster state (DoS) or reading sensitive data including secrets.

MitigationUpgrade OpenFeature Operator to version 0.2.32 or later which restricts the permissions of the open-feature-operator-controller-manager to limit what resources it can modify.

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
OpenfeatureApplication
Affected:< 0.2.32

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
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/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. Identify OpenFeature Operator deployment
    Run 'kubectl get deployments -A' and look for 'open-feature-operator' or 'openfeature' in the NAME column, then note the namespace
    Affected if The operator is deployed in the cluster
  2. Get the installed operator version
    Run 'kubectl get deployment <open-feature-operator-deployment> -n <namespace> -o jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.containers[0].image}'' to get the container image, then extract the version tag
    Affected if The version tag shows a version lower than 0.2.32 (for example: 0.2.31, 0.2.30, 0.2.0, or no tag which typically resolves to latest/older)
  3. Check operator version via Helm
    If installed via Helm, run 'helm list -A' to find the release, then 'helm get values <release-name> -n <namespace>' or 'helm list <release-name> -n <namespace>' to see the installed version
    Affected if The Helm release shows a version lower than 0.2.32
  4. Verify RBAC cluster permissions (optional)
    Run 'kubectl auth can-i --list --as=system:serviceaccount:<namespace>:open-feature-operator-controller-manager' to see what the operator's ServiceAccount can access, focusing on 'serviceaccounts' and 'secrets' resources
    Affected if The operator ServiceAccount has wildcard permissions (*) on serviceaccounts or secrets in non-resource URLs, indicating overly broad access

You are affected if the OpenFeature Operator version deployed in your cluster is below 0.2.32, as this version contains the RBAC permission restrictions that prevent privilege escalation.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 0.2.32 or later
Fixed in 0.2.32
Interim mitigation

Upgrade OpenFeature Operator to version 0.2.32 or later which restricts the permissions of the open-feature-operator-controller-manager to limit what resources it can modify.

Recommended fix High confidence

OpenFeature Operator >= 0.2.32

  1. Identify the current deployment method used for the OpenFeature Operator (e.g., kubectl, Helm, OLM)
  2. Check the currently deployed version of open-feature-operator-controller-manager
  3. Upgrade the OpenFeature Operator to version 0.2.32 or later
  4. Verify the upgraded version is running: kubectl get deployment -n open-feature-system open-feature-operator-controller-manager -o jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.containers[0].image}'
  5. Confirm the operator's RBAC permissions have been restricted by reviewing the updated ClusterRole or Role bindings

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Openfeature Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,770
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,832.

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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-2023-29018 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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