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CiliumApplication

CVE-2023-34242

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-06-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.13.4 or later.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
Cilium is a networking, observability, and security solution with an eBPF-based dataplane. Prior to version 1.13.4, when Gateway API is enabled in Cilium, the absence of a check on the namespace in which a ReferenceGrant is created could result in Cilium unintentionally gaining visibility of secrets (including certificates) and services across namespaces. An attacker on an affected cluster can leverage this issue to use cluster secrets that should not be visible to them, or communicate with services that they should not have access to. Gateway API functionality is disabled by default. This vulnerability is fixed in Cilium release 1.13.4. As a workaround, restrict the creation of `ReferenceGrant` resources to admin users by using Kubernetes RBAC.

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

In Cilium versions prior to 1.13.4, when Gateway API is enabled, the absence of namespace validation on ReferenceGrant resources allows Cilium to inadvertently expose secrets (including certificates) and services across namespaces that should be isolated. This enables attackers to access cluster secrets or communicate with services outside their authorized namespace.

MitigationUpgrade Cilium to version 1.13.4 or later, or as a workaround, restrict ReferenceGrant resource creation to admin users using Kubernetes RBAC.

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
CiliumApplication
Affected:< 1.13.4

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
Low
Integrity
None
Availability
None

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

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. Determine installed Cilium version
    Run 'cilium version' or check the Cilium operator/deployment image tag in the kube-system namespace
    Affected if The installed Cilium version is prior to 1.13.4
  2. Check if Gateway API is enabled
    Inspect the Cilium Configuration (CiliumClusterwideEnvoyConfig, CiliumEnvoyConfig, or Helm values) for Gateway API resources or check for GatewayClass, Gateway, HTTPRoute, or similar CRDs that indicate Gateway API is active
    Affected if Gateway API is enabled and in use in the cluster
  3. Identify ReferenceGrant resources
    Run 'kubectl get referencegrants -A' to list all ReferenceGrant resources in the cluster
    Affected if ReferenceGrant resources exist in the cluster without proper namespace restrictions
  4. Review namespace isolation of secrets and services
    Audit RBAC policies and network policies to determine whether cross-namespace access to secrets or services is inadvertently allowed via misconfigured ReferenceGrants
    Affected if Secrets or services in one namespace can be accessed from another namespace via ReferenceGrant-backed cross-namespace references that should be denied

The environment is affected if running any Cilium version prior to 1.13.4 with Gateway API enabled, as ReferenceGrant resources can bypass namespace isolation.

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 1.13.4 or later
Fixed in 1.13.4
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Cilium to version 1.13.4 or later, or as a workaround, restrict ReferenceGrant resource creation to admin users using Kubernetes RBAC.

Recommended fix High confidence

Cilium 1.13.4 or later

  1. 1. Identify the current Cilium version running in your cluster using `cilium version` or checking the Cilium Operator pods
  2. 2. Plan for a maintenance window as upgrading the CNI requires node coordination
  3. 3. Back up your current Cilium configuration, CustomResourceDefinitions, and any custom Helm values if applicable
  4. 4. If using a package manager (e.g., Helm), upgrade Cilium to version 1.13.4 or later: `helm upgrade cilium cilium/cilium --version 1.13.4 -n kube-system`
  5. 5. Alternatively, if using the Cilium CLI, run: `cilium upgrade` and specify version 1.13.4
  6. 6. After upgrade completes, verify all Cilium pods are running: `kubectl get pods -n kube-system -l k8s-app=cilium`
  7. 7. Confirm the new version is running: `cilium version`
  8. 8. If using Gateway API, verify ReferenceGrant functionality works correctly in your environment
Caveat Upgrading Cilium may introduce changes to eBPF programs, networking, or CRDs; thoroughly test in a staging environment first

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

Fix this in Cilium 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-2023-34242 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