CyberSecBulletin
CVE-2023-27595NVD status: Modified

cilium: Improper Handling of Exceptional Conditions

CVE-2023-27595 is a critical-severity improper handling of exceptional conditions vulnerability in cilium, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.8 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. Affected cilium versions: = 1.13.0. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.73% chance of exploitation within 30 days, higher than 55% of scored CVEs.

Patch this week

Critical severity: a successful attack would have severe impact.

What to do

  1. Check which version of cilium you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.
  2. Read the advisory on github.com for workarounds and exact fixed builds.
  3. Until you can update, restrict network access to the affected service so it is not reachable from untrusted networks.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
Ciliumcilium= 1.13.0Not stated

Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.

How the severity score breaks down

Attack vector
NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
Attack complexity
LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
Privileges required
NoneNo account or login is needed.
User interaction
NoneNo action by a victim is required.
Scope
UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
Confidentiality
HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
Integrity
HighData or code can be modified at will.
Availability
HighThe component can be taken down completely.

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by NVD.

Scoring systemScoreSeverityScored by
CVSS 3.16.5MediumCNA (github.com)
CVSS 3.19.8CriticalNVD

Official description

Cilium is a networking, observability, and security solution with an eBPF-based dataplane. In version 1.13.0, when Cilium is started, there is a short period when Cilium eBPF programs are not attached to the host. During this period, the host does not implement any of Cilium's featureset. This can cause disruption to newly established connections during this period due to the lack of Load Balancing, or can cause Network Policy bypass due to the lack of Network Policy enforcement during the window. This vulnerability impacts any Cilium-managed endpoints on the node (such as Kubernetes Pods), as well as the host network namespace (including Host Firewall). This vulnerability is fixed in Cilium 1.13.1 or later. Cilium releases 1.12.x, 1.11.x, and earlier are not affected. There are no known workarounds.

Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.

The underlying weakness: Improper Handling of Exceptional Conditions

The product does not handle or incorrectly handles an exceptional condition.

More Improper Handling of Exceptional Conditions vulnerabilities (CWE-755)

Timeline

  1. CVE record published.
  2. CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: partial).
  3. Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).

References

Patches and release notes

Other vulnerabilities in cilium

All cilium vulnerabilities

Recent Improper Handling of Exceptional Conditions vulnerabilities

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