CVE-2019-11254 Kubernetes API Server denial of service vulnerability from malicious YAML payloads

What is CVE-2019-11254?

CVE-2019-11254 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Kubernetes Kubernetes, published on 1 Apr 2020. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

The Kubernetes API Server component in versions 1.1-1.14, and versions prior to 1.15.10, 1.16.7 and 1.17.3 allows an authorized user who sends malicious YAML payloads to cause the kube-apiserver to consume excessive CPU cycles while parsing YAML.

Weakness: CWE-1050

Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-11254?

6 open source packages ship an affected version, including github.com/go-yaml/yaml and gopkg.in/yaml.v2. It affects 1 product.

Products include Kubernetes Kubernetes.

How do I fix CVE-2019-11254?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.

Is CVE-2019-11254 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-11254 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 AZL-41568, AZL-44445, AZL-44808, AZL-44904, CLEANSTART-2026-GX38111, DEBIAN-CVE-2019-11254 and 3 more.