# CVE-2020-1706: Privilege escalation in openshift/apb-tools-container

> An attacker with container access can modify /etc/passwd permissions to add users and escalate privileges within the OpenShift APB tools container.

- **Severity:** High 7.0 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 9 Mar 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-j28m-qhxw-4r5g

## What is CVE-2020-1706?

CVE-2020-1706 is a high-severity vulnerability in Redhat Openshift Container Platform, published on 9 Mar 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

It has been found that in openshift-enterprise version 3.11 and openshift-enterprise versions 4.1 up to, including 4.3, multiple containers modify the permissions of /etc/passwd to make them modifiable by users other than root. An attacker with access to the running container can exploit this to modify /etc/passwd to add a user and escalate their privileges. This CVE is specific to the openshift/apb-tools-container.

Weakness: CWE-732 (Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-1706?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Redhat Openshift Container Platform.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-1706?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-1706 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-1706 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-1706 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Redhat Openshift Container Platform

- [CVE-2020-27836](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-27836/): Missing authorization in cluster-ingress-operator (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2018-1085](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-1085/): Misconfiguration in openshift-ansible (critical 9.0)
- [CVE-2026-54099](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-54099/): Privilege escalation in Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2026-1784](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-1784/): Ose-cluster-ingress-operator: remote code execution through haproxy configuration injection (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2021-20182](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-20182/): Privilege escalation in openshift (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-1706 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-1706 is a high-severity vulnerability in Redhat Openshift Container Platform, published on 9 Mar 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-1706 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Redhat Openshift Container Platform. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-1706/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-1706/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-1706
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-1706
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-1706

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-1706/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.