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Full vulnerability report · 2020
CVE-2019-11251High confidence

kubectl cp allows symlink directory traversal

Kubernetes · Kubernetes

4.8MediumCVSS 3.1
Recommended action
Scheduled

Medium technical severity with no CISA KEV confirmation; remediate through the normal risk-based patch cycle unless local exposure raises the priority.

Fix not verified
Optional official sources

National CERT insights
?CERT means Computer Emergency Response Team; CSIRT is the closely related term Computer Security Incident Response Team.

Select the national-authority views to include. The exact source language is shown on each matched advisory. Your choice is remembered on this device and encoded in the shareable URL.

Official European source

ENISA European Vulnerability Database

Official EUVD identifiers, advisory evidence and known-exploited context. Missing fields are not treated as evidence of low risk.

1 current
ENISA EUVD identifier

EUVD-2021-0974

No EUVD known-exploited evidence

ENISA has published the identifier mapping but no EUVD description has been stored yet.

EUVD state
Present in the current official mapping
Known exploitation
Not present in the current ENISA EUVD known-exploited dataset. This is not proof of no exploitation.
ENISA score
Not supplied in the stored EUVD record
Advisory evidence
No linked advisory details stored yet
Recommended actionScheduled

Medium technical severity with no CISA KEV confirmation; remediate through the normal risk-based patch cycle unless local exposure raises the priority.

Fix not verified
01

What, why and how

The Kubernetes kubectl cp command in versions 1.1-1.12, and versions prior to 1.13.11, 1.14.7, and 1.15.4 allows a combination of two symlinks provided by tar output of a malicious container to place a file outside of the destination directory specified in the kubectl cp invocation. This could be used to allow an attacker to place a nefarious file using a symlink, outside of the destination tree.

What

The Kubernetes kubectl cp command in versions 1.1-1.12, and versions prior to 1.13.11, 1.14.7, and 1.15.4 allows a combination of two symlinks provided by tar output of a malicious container to place a file outside of the destination directory specified in the kubectl cp invocation. This could be used to allow an attacker to place a nefarious file using a symlink, outside of the destination tree.

Why

The product, when opening a file or directory, does not sufficiently account for when the file is a symbolic link that resolves to a target outside of the intended control sphere. This could allow an attacker to cause the product to operate on unauthorized files.

How

An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation with low privileges. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.

What

The Kubernetes kubectl cp command in versions 1.1-1.12, and versions prior to 1.13.11, 1.14.7, and 1.15.4 allows a combination of two symlinks provided by tar output of a malicious container to place a file outside of the destination directory specified in the kubectl cp invocation. This could be used to allow an attacker to place a nefarious file using a symlink, outside of the destination tree.

Why

The product, when opening a file or directory, does not sufficiently account for when the file is a symbolic link that resolves to a target outside of the intended control sphere. This could allow an attacker to cause the product to operate on unauthorized files.

How

An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation with low privileges. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.

02

Exploit reality and attack path

CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.

Observed exploitation
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
No confirmed evidence

No CISA KEV match was present at the last successful refresh. This means no confirmation from that source, not proof of no exploitation.

Public PoC / exploit material
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
None recorded

No exploit-tagged reference or CISA SSVC proof-of-concept state is currently recorded. Research may still exist outside the structured feeds.

Likely attack path
a network path → UNIX Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following → cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor
Attack surface
Network
Privileges required
Low: a basic authenticated account is required
User interaction
Required interaction required
Attack complexity
High: exploitation depends on specific conditions
Security boundary
Unchanged: impact remains within the vulnerable component's security authority
Weakness
?CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness.
CWE-61

CWE-61: UNIX Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following. The product, when opening a file or directory, does not sufficiently account for when the file is a symbolic link that resolves to a target outside of the intended control sphere. This could allow an attacker to cause the product to operate on unauthorized files.

CVSS vector
?CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

Common Vulnerability Scoring System 3.1: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.

AVNetworkAttack vector: The vulnerable component can be reached over a network.ACHighAttack complexity: Successful exploitation depends on specific conditions outside the attacker's direct control.PRLowPrivileges required: The attacker needs basic user-level privileges.UIRequiredUser interaction: Another user must perform an action for exploitation to succeed.SUnchangedScope: The security impact remains within the vulnerable component's authority.CNoneConfidentiality impact: No direct loss is represented by this metric.IHighIntegrity impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.ANoneAvailability impact: No direct loss is represented by this metric.
Post-exploitation / living off the land
No specific living-off-the-land technique is confirmed in the structured sources. Monitor normal administration tools for activity inconsistent with the affected service's baseline.
NetworkCWE-61
A

Official authority intelligence

Only matched European and national findings are included. Language selectors and unavailable sources are omitted.

BSI · German · WID-SEC-2022-0510IBM DB2: Mehrere Schwachstellen

Ein entfernter, anonymer, authentisierter oder lokaler Angreifer kann mehrere Schwachstellen in IBM DB2 ausnutzen, um Dateien zu manipulieren, Sicherheitsmaßnahmen zu umgehen, vertrauliche Informationen offenzulegen, einen Denial-of-Service-Zustand auszulösen, willkürlichen Code mit erhöhten Rechten auszuführen, Informationen falsch darzustellen und beliebigen Code auszuführen.

Official advisory ↗
CERT-FR · French · CERTFR-2022-AVI-591Multiples vulnérabilités dans les produits IBM

=CVE-2018-17846 Référence CVE CVE-2018-17847 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-17847 Référence CVE CVE-2018-17848 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-17848 Référence CVE CVE-2018-20699 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-20699 Référence CVE CVE-2019-1002101 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-1002101 Référence CVE CVE-2019-11246 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-11246 Référence CVE CVE-2019-11247 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-11247 Référence CVE CVE-2019-11249 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-11249 Référence CVE CVE-2019-11250 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-11250 Référence CVE CVE-2019-11251 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-11251 Référence CVE CVE-2019-11252 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-11252 Référence CVE CVE-2019-11253 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-11253 Référence CVE CVE-2019-11254 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-11254 Référence CVE CVE-2019-11840 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-11840 Référence CVE CVE-2019-11841 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-11841 Référence CVE CVE-2019-16884 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-16884 Référence CVE CVE-2020-10752 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-10752 Référence CVE CVE-2020-14040 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=

Official advisory ↗
JVN iPedia · Japanese · JVNDB-2019-014474Kubernetes におけるリンク解釈に関する脆弱性

Kubernetes には、リンク解釈に関する脆弱性が存在します。

Official advisory ↗
03

Patch and workaround

Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.

Status
?Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Fix not verified
Affected
Kubernetes: prior to 1.13.11, prior to 1.14.7, prior to 1.15.4, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 1.9, 1.10, 1.11, 1.12
Fixed
No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
Action
No verified patch reference is present in the current structured sources. Check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Workaround
No verified workaround is recorded. If business-safe, reduce exposure to the affected interface and allow only trusted sources until authoritative guidance is available.
04

Evidence and provenance

Published 3 Feb 2020 · Last source change 4 Aug 2024, 22:48 UTC · CWE-61 · UNIX Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following

CVE recordCVE.org · 5.1
CVSS sourceCNA
EPSS source
?The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.
FIRST · tracked since 2026-08-14
European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2021-0974
Product sourceCNA
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceCNA
NVD statusNVD modified after enrichment

Core structured fields are present and their contributing authorities are shown above.

Material change intelligence

What changed after publication

View recent updates ↗

No material field changes have been recorded since change tracking began. Routine source refreshes and cosmetic edits are intentionally excluded.

Material fields only · duplicate refreshes suppressed · history retained for the configured operational retention period
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
CVE
Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
CVSS
Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
EPSS
Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
CWE
Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
CNA
CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
CISA ADP
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
NVD
National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
CERT / CSIRT
A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
PoC
Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
CSAF
Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
LoTL
Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.
Free version - for non-commercial use only.CVE-2019-11251 · cve.blacktree.nl