CVE-2019-11246 kubectl cp allows symlink directory traversal

What is CVE-2019-11246?

CVE-2019-11246 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Kubernetes Kubernetes, published on 29 Aug 2019. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

Official description

The kubectl cp command allows copying files between containers and the user machine. To copy files from a container, Kubernetes runs tar inside the container to create a tar archive, copies it over the network, and kubectl unpacks it on the user’s machine. If the tar binary in the container is malicious, it could run any code and output unexpected, malicious results. An attacker could use this to write files to any path on the user’s machine when kubectl cp is called, limited only by the system permissions of the local user. Kubernetes affected versions include versions prior to 1.12.9, versions prior to 1.13.6, versions prior to 1.14.2, and versions 1.1, 1.2, 1.4, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 1.9, 1.10, 1.11.

Weakness: CWE-22, CWE-61

Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-11246?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Kubernetes Kubernetes.

How do I fix CVE-2019-11246?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

Upgrade, and resolve every user-supplied path against an allowed base folder before opening it. More about Path traversal.

Is CVE-2019-11246 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-11246 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Other vulnerabilities in Kubernetes Kubernetes

• CVE-2018-1002105 Privilege Escalation in Kubernetes Critical 9.8
• CVE-2017-1000056 Kubernetes Privilege Escalation Critical 9.8
• CVE-2016-1906 Authorization bypass in Openshift Critical 9.8
• CVE-2023-3676 Kubernetes - Windows nodes - Insufficient input sanitization leads to privilege escalation High 8.8
• CVE-2023-3955 Kubernetes - Windows nodes - Insufficient input sanitization leads to privilege escalation High 8.8

All Kubernetes Kubernetes vulnerabilities

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as GHSA-8wj5-gvvw-f5fh, RHSA-2019:1632, RHSA-2019:1633, RHSA-2019:1852.