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Ingress NginxWeb server / proxy · Kubernetes

CVE-2023-5044

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-10-25
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.9.0 or later.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
High EPSS 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
Code injection via nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/permanent-redirect annotation.

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 nginx Ingress Controller allows code injection through the nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/permanent-redirect annotation. Attackers with the ability to create or modify Ingress resources can inject malicious code via this annotation, potentially leading to arbitrary code execution on the Ingress controller.

MitigationUpgrade the NGINX Ingress Controller to the version containing the fix. Audit existing Ingress resources for use of the permanent-redirect annotation and remove or reconstruct any suspicious configurations.

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
Ingress NginxWeb server / proxy
Affected:< 1.9.0

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. Determine the installed Ingress Controller version
    Run 'kubectl get pods -n ingress-nginx -o jsonpath="{.items[*].spec.containers[*].image}"' to get the ingress-nginx controller image, then check the image tag against the 1.9.0 version boundary
    Affected if The installed version is before 1.9.0
  2. Find Ingress resources using the permanent-redirect annotation
    Run 'kubectl get ingress --all-namespaces -o jsonpath="{range .items[*]}{.metadata.namespace}{.metadata.name}{\n}{range .metadata.annotations}{.}{end}{\n}{end}" | grep -i permanent-redirect' to list all Ingress objects using this annotation
    Affected if Any Ingress resource contains the nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/permanent-redirect annotation
  3. Inspect the annotation values for suspicious content
    For each Ingress with the permanent-redirect annotation, run 'kubectl get ingress <name> -n <namespace> -o jsonpath="{.metadata.annotations['nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/permanent-redirect']}"' and examine the value for shell commands, URLs with special characters, or unexpected patterns
    Affected if The annotation value contains encoded characters, shell syntax, or unexpected payloads that could indicate injection
  4. Audit who can create or modify Ingress resources
    Run 'kubectl auth can-i create ingress --all-namespaces' and 'kubectl auth can-i edit ingress --all-namespaces' to check RBAC permissions, then review the resulting users or service accounts with these permissions
    Affected if Untrusted or compromised users have permission to create or modify Ingress resources in any namespace

You are affected if the Ingress Controller version is below 1.9.0 AND any Ingress resource in your cluster uses the permanent-redirect annotation with untrusted or potentially malicious values.

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 1.9.0 or later
Fixed in 1.9.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade the NGINX Ingress Controller to the version containing the fix. Audit existing Ingress resources for use of the permanent-redirect annotation and remove or reconstruct any suspicious configurations.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Ingress Nginx 1.9.0 or later

  1. 1. Backup your current Ingress Nginx deployment and configuration
  2. 2. Update your Ingress Nginx controller to version 1.9.0 or later using your Kubernetes package manager (e.g., Helm upgrade)
  3. 3. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the controller pod is running and the version is correct
  4. 4. Test that existing ingress resources with permanent-redirect annotations still function as expected
  5. 5. If using the nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/permanent-redirect annotation, verify the vulnerability is remediated by testing that arbitrary code injection is no longer possible
Caveat Review the Ingress Nginx 1.9.0 release notes for any breaking changes related to annotation handling or nginx configuration

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

Fix this in Ingress Nginx Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
21.0 hours of engineering $3,680
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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-2023-5044 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