GHSA-jhjp-4c2q-xmx4: Github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit aks K8saudit Shipped Rules Do Not Vulnerability

{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-jhjp-4c2q-xmx4",
  "modified" : "2026-09-21T21:43:52Z",
  "published" : "2026-09-21T21:43:52Z",
  "aliases" : [ ],
  "summary" : "k8saudit shipped rules do not detect privileged/sensitive settings on init or ephemeral containers",
  "details" : "The `k8saudit` plugin's per-container fields (`ka.req.pod.containers.*`) and the shipped `k8s_audit_rules.yaml` evaluated only `requestObject.spec.containers`. Security-relevant settings on a pod's `initContainers` or `ephemeralContainers` were not inspected, so the shipped `Create Privileged Pod` rule did not fire for a privileged container placed in either list.\n\n### Impact\n\nAn actor able to create pods (the activity k8saudit is intended to audit) could run a privileged container without triggering the default `Create Privileged Pod` rule, by declaring it as an `initContainer` or `ephemeralContainer` instead of a regular container. Kubernetes runs such containers with the requested privileges, but the shipped rule did not see them. The same gap applied to other per-container security settings (capabilities, `allowPrivilegeEscalation`, `runAsUser`, etc.) and, for deployments using a customized image allowlist, to disallowed images placed in those lists.\n\nThis is a detection bypass of the default k8saudit ruleset, not a direct privilege escalation, and it requires the ability to create pods. The cloud-provider variants (`k8saudit-eks`, `k8saudit-gke`, `k8saudit-aks`, `k8saudit-ovh`) embed the same extraction logic and ship the same ruleset, and were affected equally.\n\nNote: adding an ephemeral container goes through the `pods/ephemeralcontainers` subresource, so the `EphemeralContainers Created` rule still logged that event at `NOTICE`, but without any privileged/security evaluation.\n\n\n### Patches\n\nFixed in `k8saudit 0.18.0`, and in the cloud-variant releases that depend on it — `k8saudit-eks 0.12.0`, `k8saudit-gke 0.9.0`, `k8saudit-aks 0.6.0`, `k8saudit-ovh 0.6.0` — all released on 2026-06-19.\n\nThe fix ([falcosecurity/plugins#1400](https://github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/pull/1400), merged 2026-06-18) adds dedicated `ka.req.pod.initContainers.*` and `ka.req.pod.ephemeralContainers.*` field families and updates `Create Privileged Pod` (via a new `any_container_privileged` macro) to evaluate all three container lists.\n\nOperators upgrading should review any **custom** rules built on `ka.req.pod.containers.*` — in particular tuned `Create Disallowed Pod` image allowlists — and extend them to the new `initContainers`/`ephemeralContainers` image fields.\n\n### Workarounds\n\nFor deployments that cannot upgrade immediately, restrict who can create pods (RBAC) and enforce Pod Security Admission (`baseline`/`restricted`) or an admission controller (Kyverno, OPA/Gatekeeper) to block privileged init/ephemeral containers at admission time, as defense-in-depth.\n\n### Credits\n\n[kanywst](https://github.com/kanywst) — discovery and fix.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Go",
      "name" : "github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.18.0"
      } ]
    } ],
    "database_specific" : {
      "last_known_affected_version_range" : "<= 0.17.0"
    }
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Go",
      "name" : "github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit-eks"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.12.0"
      } ]
    } ],
    "database_specific" : {
      "last_known_affected_version_range" : "<= 0.11.0"
    }
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Go",
      "name" : "github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit-gke"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.9.0"
      } ]
    } ],
    "database_specific" : {
      "last_known_affected_version_range" : "<= 0.8.0"
    }
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Go",
      "name" : "github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit-aks"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.6.0"
      } ]
    } ],
    "database_specific" : {
      "last_known_affected_version_range" : "<= 0.5.1"
    }
  }, {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Go",
      "name" : "github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit-ovh"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.6.0"
      } ]
    } ],
    "database_specific" : {
      "last_known_affected_version_range" : "<= 0.5.0"
    }
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/security/advisories/GHSA-jhjp-4c2q-xmx4"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/pull/1400"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/commit/0adb9b3c7e2c8bad53f30d01c057e038b2afa5e1"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/falcosecurity/plugins"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/releases/tag/plugins/k8saudit-aks/v0.6.0"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/releases/tag/plugins/k8saudit-eks/v0.12.0"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/releases/tag/plugins/k8saudit-gke/v0.9.0"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/releases/tag/plugins/k8saudit-ovh/v0.6.0"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/releases/tag/plugins/k8saudit/v0.18.0"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-693" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-09-21T21:43:52Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}