Cri-o: large /etc/passwd file may lead to denial of service
Vulnerability Description
There's a vulnerability in the CRI-O application where when container is launched with securityContext.runAsUser specifying a non-existent user, CRI-O attempts to create the user, reading the container's entire /etc/passwd file into memory. If this file is excessively large, it can cause the a high memory consumption leading applications to be killed due to out-of-memory. As a result a denial-of-service can be achieved, possibly disrupting other pods and services running in the same host.
Impact Analysis
Refer to official advisory for detailed impact metrics.
Remediation
Ensure systems are updated to the latest vendor-supplied patch levels.
Am I Vulnerable?
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Credits & Attribution
The following person or organization is credited with identifying this vulnerability, as recorded in the NVD database:
- Red Hat would like to thank Dongha Kim (BoB Project Team, Pirates) for reporting this issue.
References
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