CVE-2023-27593

cilium-agent container can access the host via `hostPath` mount

MEDIUM
5.5
CVSS Score
Published: March 17, 2023 at 07:51 PM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 05:45 AM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorCilium

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Severity
MEDIUM5.5
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.2%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

Cilium is a networking, observability, and security solution with an eBPF-based dataplane. Prior to versions 1.11.15, 1.12.8, and 1.13.1, an attacker with access to a Cilium agent pod can write to `/opt/cni/bin` due to a `hostPath` mount of that directory in the agent pod. By replacing the CNI binary with their own malicious binary and waiting for the creation of a new pod on the node, the attacker can gain access to the underlying node. The issue has been fixed and the fix is available on versions 1.11.15, 1.12.8, and 1.13.1. Some workarounds are available. Kubernetes RBAC should be used to deny users and service accounts `exec` access to Cilium agent pods. In cases where a user requires `exec` access to Cilium agent pods, but should not have access to the underlying node, no workaround is possible.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

v < 1.11.15v < 1.12.8v < 1.13.11.12.0 ≤ v < 1.12.81.13.0 ≤ v < 1.13.1
Affected range stops below 1.11.15, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 1.12.8, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 1.13.1, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet, and no fixed version or vendor advisory is recorded against it.

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatablePartial impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

Attack Vector
LOCAL
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
NONE
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
CWE-276

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