CVE-2020-14316: Kubevirt.io/kubevirt Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

CRITICAL
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-828r-r2c8-rfw3
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CVSS 9.9
CWE-269
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2020-14316 is a CRITICAL (CVSS 9.9) privilege escalation vulnerability (CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management) affecting Kubevirt.io/kubevirt libraries in the Go ecosystem. The issue involves privilege escalation in kubevirt. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 0.30.0.

CVE-2020-14316 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2020-14316
GHSA Identifier GHSA-828r-r2c8-rfw3
Severity CRITICAL
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 9.9
CWE Classification CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management
Affected Product Kubevirt.io/kubevirt
Package Ecosystem Go
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 9.9

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required Low (PR:L)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Changed (S:C)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2020-14316

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Kubevirt.io/kubevirt dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

kubevirt.io/kubevirt fixed: 0.30.0 
Upgrade kubevirt.io/kubevirt to 0.30.0
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

inspect dependencies for kubevirt.io/kubevirt

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2020-14316, inspect your project dependencies for Kubevirt.io/kubevirt:

inspect dependencies for kubevirt.io/kubevirt

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Kubevirt.io/kubevirt in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 0.30.0), your application is affected.

Note: Verify declared build manifests and deployed runtime container environments.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management, where the product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor. In Kubevirt.io/kubevirt, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

A flaw was found in kubevirt 0.29 and earlier. Virtual Machine Instances (VMIs) can be used to gain access to the host's filesystem. Successful exploitation allows an attacker to assume the privileges of the VM process on the host system. In worst-case scenarios an attacker can read and modify any file on the system where the VMI is running. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity as well as system availability.

CVE-2020-14316 Affected Kubevirt.io/kubevirt Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
0.30.0
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
kubevirt.io/kubevirt
golang/kubevirt.io/kubevirt
Go
< 0.30.0
0.30.0

References

NVD — CVE-2020-14316 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-14316
Kubevirt.io/kubevirt Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/kubevirt/kubevirt/pull/3686
bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi WEB
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1848951
Kubevirt.io/kubevirt Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/kubevirt/kubevirt

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2020-14316?
CVE-2020-14316 is a security vulnerability in Kubevirt.io/kubevirt involving Privilege Escalation in kubevirt under CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management.
Which Kubevirt.io/kubevirt versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 0.30.0 across affected packages: kubevirt.io/kubevirt.
What version fixes CVE-2020-14316?
Upgrading to 0.30.0 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is kubevirt.io/kubevirt affected?
Yes, kubevirt.io/kubevirt is affected in releases prior to 0.30.0. Upgrade your dependency to 0.30.0 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2020-14316?
CVE-2020-14316 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.9 (CRITICAL) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2020-14316?
CVE-2020-14316 is classified under CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management (The product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor.).
How can I check Go dependencies for CVE-2020-14316?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for kubevirt.io/kubevirt'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-828r-r2c8-rfw3",
  "modified" : "2024-04-24T20:54:37Z",
  "published" : "2024-04-24T20:54:37Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2020-14316" ],
  "summary" : "Privilege Escalation in kubevirt",
  "details" : "A flaw was found in kubevirt 0.29 and earlier. Virtual Machine Instances (VMIs) can be used to gain access to the host's filesystem. Successful exploitation allows an attacker to assume the privileges of the VM process on the host system. In worst-case scenarios an attacker can read and modify any file on the system where the VMI is running. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity as well as system availability.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Go",
      "name" : "kubevirt.io/kubevirt"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "0.30.0"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-14316"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/kubevirt/kubevirt/pull/3686"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1848951"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/kubevirt/kubevirt"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-269" ],
    "severity" : "CRITICAL",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2024-04-24T20:54:37Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2020-07-29T19:15:00Z"
  }
}