dbcve.org
CiliumApplication

CVE-2024-28249

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-03-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.13.13 / 1.14.8 or later.
See remediation →
66/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 versions 1.13.13, 1.14.8, and 1.15.2, in Cilium clusters with IPsec enabled and traffic matching Layer 7 policies, IPsec-eligible traffic between a node's Envoy proxy and pods on other nodes is sent unencrypted and IPsec-eligible traffic between a node's DNS proxy and pods on other nodes is sent unencrypted. This issue has been resolved in Cilium 1.15.2, 1.14.8, and 1.13.13. There is no known workaround for this issue.

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 clusters with IPsec enabled and Layer 7 policies configured, IPsec-eligible traffic between a node's Envoy proxy and pods on other nodes, as well as traffic between a node's DNS proxy and remote pods, is incorrectly sent unencrypted despite IPsec being enabled. This is a security bypass where traffic that should be protected by IPsec is transmitted in cleartext.

MitigationUpgrade Cilium to version 1.15.2, 1.14.8, or 1.13.13 or later. There is no workaround; the upgrade is mandatory to remediate this vulnerability.

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:< 1.13.13>= 1.14.0, < 1.14.8>= 1.15.0, < 1.15.2

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/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. Check the installed Cilium version
    Run 'kubectl get pods -n kube-system -l k8s-app=cilium -o jsonpath="{.items[0].spec.containers[0].image}"' to get the Cilium agent image, or check the Cilium operator version with 'kubectl get pods -n kube-system -l name=cilium-operator -o jsonpath="{.items[0].spec.containers[0].image}"'. Extract the version number from the image tag.
    Affected if The version is less than 1.13.13, or between 1.14.0 and 1.14.8 (exclusive), or between 1.15.0 and 1.15.2 (exclusive).
  2. Verify IPsec is enabled in the cluster
    Run 'kubectl get configmap -n kube-system cilium-config -o jsonpath="{.data.enable-ipsec}"' to check if IPsec encryption is enabled. Alternatively, inspect the cilium-config ConfigMap for 'enable-ipsec: true' or similar IPsec-related configuration.
    Affected if IPsec is enabled (enable-ipsec is set to a truthy value). This is a prerequisite for the bypass to occur.
  3. Check if Layer 7 policies are configured
    Run 'kubectl get cnp,ciliumnetworkpolicies,ciliumclusterwidepolicies -A' to list all Cilium Network Policies. Look for policies that include L7 rules (such as 'l7Protocol' or HTTP/mongo/redis/etc. rules). Also check 'kubectl get cnp -A -o jsonpath="{range .items[*]}{.metadata.name}{.spec}{.end}"' for L7-related spec content.
    Affected if Layer 7 policies exist in the cluster. The vulnerability specifically affects traffic when L7 policies are applied on top of IPsec protection.

A user is affected if their Cilium version falls within the vulnerable ranges AND IPsec is enabled AND Layer 7 policies are configured, resulting in certain node-proxy to pod and DNS proxy to pod traffic being sent unencrypted despite IPsec protection.

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 1.13.13 / 1.14.8 / 1.15.2 or later
Fixed in 1.13.131.14.81.15.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Cilium to version 1.15.2, 1.14.8, or 1.13.13 or later. There is no workaround; the upgrade is mandatory to remediate this vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to Cilium 1.13.13 (if on <1.13.x), 1.14.8 (if on 1.14.x), or 1.15.2 (if on 1.15.x)

  1. Identify current Cilium version using `cilium version` or your orchestration tool
  2. Select the appropriate upgrade path based on your current version: if running <1.13.13, upgrade to 1.13.13; if running >=1.14.0 and <1.14.8, upgrade to 1.14.8; if running >=1.15.0 and <1.15.2, upgrade to 1.15.2
  3. Follow the standard Cilium upgrade procedure: backup current configuration with `cilium config get > cilium-backup.yaml`
  4. For Kubernetes deployments, run `cilium upgrade` via Helm or the Cilium CLI, e.g., `cilium upgrade --version <target-version>`
  5. After upgrade, verify IPsec is functioning correctly with `cilium encryption status`
  6. Confirm the fix by ensuring encrypted traffic between Envoy/DNS proxies and remote pods
Caveat Standard minor version upgrades may have behavioral changes; review release notes for any breaking changes between your current and target version

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

Fix this in Cilium Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing5.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,790
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,464.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-28249 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2024-28249 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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