CVE-2023-41333
highpriority · track · 32OT risk · elevatedEPSS 0.005 · 41 %ileEUUSEPSS · scored 2026-10-27
Cilium is a networking, observability, and security solution with an eBPF-based dataplane. An attacker with the ability to create or modify CiliumNetworkPolicy objects in a particular namespace is able to affect traffic on an entire Cilium cluster, potentially bypassing policy enforcement in other namespaces. By using a crafted `endpointSelector` that uses the `DoesNotExist` operator on the `reserved:init` label, the attacker can create policies that bypass namespace restrictions and affect the entire Cilium cluster. This includes potentially allowing or denying all traffic. This attack requires API server access, as described in the Kubernetes API Server Attacker section of the Cilium Threat Model. This issue has been resolved in Cilium versions 1.14.2, 1.13.7, and 1.12.14. As a workaround an admission webhook can be used to prevent the use of `endpointSelectors` that use the `DoesNotExist` operator on the `reserved:init` label in CiliumNetworkPolicies.
cvss
Technical severity, 0–10. One row per scoring source.
base score 0–10 · higher = more severe · hover a vector to decode⚠ sources disagree · medium–high · 6.9–8.1
ssvc
A stakeholder decision — act, attend, or track — from exploitation and impact.
weaknesses
The CWE weakness classes this flaw belongs to.
affected products (30)
Products and version ranges known to be affected.
advisories (9)
Vendor and ecosystem advisories describing this.
- GHSA-4xp2-w642-7mcxCilium vulnerable to bypass of namespace restrictions in CiliumNetworkPolicy 2023-09-27ghsa · osvUS
### Impact An attacker with the ability to create or modify CiliumNetworkPolicy objects in a particular namespace is able to affect traffic on an entire Cilium cluster, potentially bypassing policy enforcement in other namespaces. By using a crafted `endpointSelector` that uses the `DoesNotExist` operator on the `reserved:init` label, the attacker can create policies that bypass namespace restrictions and affect the entire Cilium cluster. This includes potentially allowing or denying all traffic. This attack requires API server access, as described in the [Kubernetes API Server Attacker](https://docs.cilium.io/en/stable/security/threat-model/#kubernetes-api-server-attacker) section of the Cilium Threat Model. ### Patches This issue was patched in https://github.com/cilium/cilium/pull/28007 This issue affects: - Cilium <= v1.14.1 - Cilium <= v1.13.6 - Cilium <= v1.12.13 This issue has been resolved in: - Cilium v1.14.2 - Cilium v1.13.7 - Cilium v1.12.14 ### Workarounds An admission webhook can be used to prevent the use of `endpointSelector`s that use the `DoesNotExist` operator on the `reserved:init` label in CiliumNetworkPolicies. ### Acknowledgements The Cilium community has worked together with members of Palantir and Isovalent to prepare these mitigations. Special thanks to @odinuge for reporting this issue and @joestringer for the fix. ### For more information If you have any questions or comments about this advisory, please reach out on [Slack](https://docs.cilium.io/en/latest/community/community/#slack). If you think you have found a vulnerability in Cilium, we strongly encourage you to report it to our private security mailing list at [security@cilium.io](mailto:security@cilium.io) first, before disclosing it in any public forum. This is a private mailing list for Cilium's internal security team, and your report will be treated as top priority.
- BIT-cilium-2023-41333Bypass of namespace restrictions in CiliumNetworkPolicy 2024-05-15vendor · osvUS
Cilium is a networking, observability, and security solution with an eBPF-based dataplane. An attacker with the ability to create or modify CiliumNetworkPolicy objects in a particular namespace is able to affect traffic on an entire Cilium cluster, potentially bypassing policy enforcement in other namespaces. By using a crafted `endpointSelector` that uses the `DoesNotExist` operator on the `reserved:init` label, the attacker can create policies that bypass namespace restrictions and affect the entire Cilium cluster. This includes potentially allowing or denying all traffic. This attack requires API server access, as described in the Kubernetes API Server Attacker section of the Cilium Threat Model. This issue has been resolved in Cilium versions 1.14.2, 1.13.7, and 1.12.14. As a workaround an admission webhook can be used to prevent the use of `endpointSelectors` that use the `DoesNotExist` operator on the `reserved:init` label in CiliumNetworkPolicies.
- BIT-cilium-operator-2023-41333Bypass of namespace restrictions in CiliumNetworkPolicy 2024-05-15vendor · osvUS
Cilium is a networking, observability, and security solution with an eBPF-based dataplane. An attacker with the ability to create or modify CiliumNetworkPolicy objects in a particular namespace is able to affect traffic on an entire Cilium cluster, potentially bypassing policy enforcement in other namespaces. By using a crafted `endpointSelector` that uses the `DoesNotExist` operator on the `reserved:init` label, the attacker can create policies that bypass namespace restrictions and affect the entire Cilium cluster. This includes potentially allowing or denying all traffic. This attack requires API server access, as described in the Kubernetes API Server Attacker section of the Cilium Threat Model. This issue has been resolved in Cilium versions 1.14.2, 1.13.7, and 1.12.14. As a workaround an admission webhook can be used to prevent the use of `endpointSelectors` that use the `DoesNotExist` operator on the `reserved:init` label in CiliumNetworkPolicies.
- BIT-cilium-proxy-2023-413332024-07-01vendor · osvUS
Cilium is a networking, observability, and security solution with an eBPF-based dataplane. An attacker with the ability to create or modify CiliumNetworkPolicy objects in a particular namespace is able to affect traffic on an entire Cilium cluster, potentially bypassing policy enforcement in other namespaces. By using a crafted `endpointSelector` that uses the `DoesNotExist` operator on the `reserved:init` label, the attacker can create policies that bypass namespace restrictions and affect the entire Cilium cluster. This includes potentially allowing or denying all traffic. This attack requires API server access, as described in the Kubernetes API Server Attacker section of the Cilium Threat Model. This issue has been resolved in Cilium versions 1.14.2, 1.13.7, and 1.12.14. As a workaround an admission webhook can be used to prevent the use of `endpointSelectors` that use the `DoesNotExist` operator on the `reserved:init` label in CiliumNetworkPolicies.
- BIT-hubble-2023-413332024-06-04vendor · osvUS
Cilium is a networking, observability, and security solution with an eBPF-based dataplane. An attacker with the ability to create or modify CiliumNetworkPolicy objects in a particular namespace is able to affect traffic on an entire Cilium cluster, potentially bypassing policy enforcement in other namespaces. By using a crafted `endpointSelector` that uses the `DoesNotExist` operator on the `reserved:init` label, the attacker can create policies that bypass namespace restrictions and affect the entire Cilium cluster. This includes potentially allowing or denying all traffic. This attack requires API server access, as described in the Kubernetes API Server Attacker section of the Cilium Threat Model. This issue has been resolved in Cilium versions 1.14.2, 1.13.7, and 1.12.14. As a workaround an admission webhook can be used to prevent the use of `endpointSelectors` that use the `DoesNotExist` operator on the `reserved:init` label in CiliumNetworkPolicies.
- BIT-hubble-relay-2023-41333Bypass of namespace restrictions in CiliumNetworkPolicy 2024-05-24vendor · osvUS
Cilium is a networking, observability, and security solution with an eBPF-based dataplane. An attacker with the ability to create or modify CiliumNetworkPolicy objects in a particular namespace is able to affect traffic on an entire Cilium cluster, potentially bypassing policy enforcement in other namespaces. By using a crafted `endpointSelector` that uses the `DoesNotExist` operator on the `reserved:init` label, the attacker can create policies that bypass namespace restrictions and affect the entire Cilium cluster. This includes potentially allowing or denying all traffic. This attack requires API server access, as described in the Kubernetes API Server Attacker section of the Cilium Threat Model. This issue has been resolved in Cilium versions 1.14.2, 1.13.7, and 1.12.14. As a workaround an admission webhook can be used to prevent the use of `endpointSelectors` that use the `DoesNotExist` operator on the `reserved:init` label in CiliumNetworkPolicies.
- BIT-hubble-ui-2023-413332024-07-01vendor · osvUS
Cilium is a networking, observability, and security solution with an eBPF-based dataplane. An attacker with the ability to create or modify CiliumNetworkPolicy objects in a particular namespace is able to affect traffic on an entire Cilium cluster, potentially bypassing policy enforcement in other namespaces. By using a crafted `endpointSelector` that uses the `DoesNotExist` operator on the `reserved:init` label, the attacker can create policies that bypass namespace restrictions and affect the entire Cilium cluster. This includes potentially allowing or denying all traffic. This attack requires API server access, as described in the Kubernetes API Server Attacker section of the Cilium Threat Model. This issue has been resolved in Cilium versions 1.14.2, 1.13.7, and 1.12.14. As a workaround an admission webhook can be used to prevent the use of `endpointSelectors` that use the `DoesNotExist` operator on the `reserved:init` label in CiliumNetworkPolicies.
- BIT-hubble-ui-backend-2023-413332024-07-01vendor · osvUS
Cilium is a networking, observability, and security solution with an eBPF-based dataplane. An attacker with the ability to create or modify CiliumNetworkPolicy objects in a particular namespace is able to affect traffic on an entire Cilium cluster, potentially bypassing policy enforcement in other namespaces. By using a crafted `endpointSelector` that uses the `DoesNotExist` operator on the `reserved:init` label, the attacker can create policies that bypass namespace restrictions and affect the entire Cilium cluster. This includes potentially allowing or denying all traffic. This attack requires API server access, as described in the Kubernetes API Server Attacker section of the Cilium Threat Model. This issue has been resolved in Cilium versions 1.14.2, 1.13.7, and 1.12.14. As a workaround an admission webhook can be used to prevent the use of `endpointSelectors` that use the `DoesNotExist` operator on the `reserved:init` label in CiliumNetworkPolicies.
- GO-2023-2080Cilium vulnerable to bypass of namespace restrictions in CiliumNetworkPolicy in github.com/cilium/cilium2024-08-21vendor · osvUS
Cilium vulnerable to bypass of namespace restrictions in CiliumNetworkPolicy in github.com/cilium/cilium
also known as (12)
Other names and identifiers for this entity.
- CNNVD-202309-2375cnnvd
- EUVD-2023-2423enisa_euvd
- GHSA-4xp2-w642-7mcxenisa_euvd
- BIT-cilium-2023-41333osv
- BIT-cilium-operator-2023-41333osv
- BIT-cilium-proxy-2023-41333osv
- BIT-hubble-2023-41333osv
- BIT-hubble-relay-2023-41333osv
- BIT-hubble-ui-2023-41333osv
- BIT-hubble-ui-backend-2023-41333osv
- GHSA-4xp2-w642-7mcxosv
- GO-2023-2080osv
sources
Which sources assert this record, and when.
references (10)
External citations — patches, advisories, analysis.
- https://cxsecurity.com/cveshow/CVE-2023-41333/cnnvd
- https://docs.cilium.io/en/stable/security/threat-model/#kubernetes-api-server-attackercnnvd
- https://github.com/cilium/cilium/pull/28007cnnvd
- https://github.com/cilium/cilium/security/advisories/GHSA-4xp2-w642-7mcxcnnvd
- https://docs.cilium.io/en/stable/security/threat-model/#kubernetes-api-server-attackerenisa_euvd
- https://github.com/cilium/cilium/pull/28007enisa_euvd
- https://github.com/cilium/cilium/security/advisories/GHSA-4xp2-w642-7mcxenisa_euvd
- https://docs.cilium.io/en/stable/security/threat-model/#kubernetes-api-server-attackerProductnvd
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