Operator-sdk: privilege escalation due to incorrect permissions of /etc/passwd

6.4 CVSS

Vulnerability Description

Early versions of Operator-SDK provided an insecure method to allow operator containers to run in environments that used a random UID. Operator-SDK before 0.15.2 provided a script, user_setup, which modifies the permissions of the /etc/passwd file to 664 during build time. Developers who used Operator-SDK before 0.15.2 to scaffold their operator may still be impacted by this if the insecure user_setup script is still being used to build new container images. In affected images, the /etc/passwd file is created during build time with group-writable permissions and a group ownership of root (gid=0). An attacker who can execute commands within an affected container, even as a non-root user, may be able to leverage their membership in the root group to modify the /etc/passwd file. This could allow the attacker to add a new user with any arbitrary UID, including UID 0, leading to full root privileges within the container.

Impact Analysis

Refer to official advisory for detailed impact metrics.

Remediation

Ensure systems are updated to the latest vendor-supplied patch levels.

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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 Antony Di Scala, James Force, and Michael Whale for reporting this issue.

References

Affected Vendor

operator-framework

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Affected Software

operator-sdk, RHEL-9-CNV-4.17, RHEL-9-CNV-4.18, RHEL-9-CNV-4.20, multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.6, multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.7, multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.8, multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.9, OpenShift Compliance Operator 1, OpenShift File Integrity Operator - FIO 1, Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.11, Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.12, Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.13, Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.14, Red Hat Openshift Data Foundation 4.14, Red Hat Openshift Data Foundation 4.15, Red Hat Openshift Data Foundation 4.16, Red Hat Openshift Data Foundation 4.17, Red Hat Openshift Data Foundation 4.18, Multicluster Engine for Kubernetes, Multicluster Global Hub, Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2, Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security 4, Red Hat build of Apicurio Registry 2, Red Hat build of Apicurio Registry 3, Red Hat Fuse 7, Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4, Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization 4, Red Hat Web Terminal

Vulnerable Versions:

0, v4.17.39-2, v4.18.25-3, v4.20.3-3, v2.6, v2.7, 1765872406, 1766360304, 1765669648, 1765866268, 1765872399, 1765872402, 1765872398, 1765872400, v2.9, 1.8.0, 1768172669, v1.3, v2.11, v2.12, 1773285089, 1773259164, 1773259182, 1773358651, 1773090513, 1767569821, 1767829032, 1767656229, v2.14, 1769720041, 1770343757, 1769721579, 1770336554, v4.14-1764178221, v4.14-1764178222, v4.14-1764178236, v4.14-1764178273, v4.14-1764178715, v4.14-1764178261, v4.14-1764178354, v4.14-1764178419, v4.14-1764178768, v4.14-1764178319, v4.14-1764178386, v4.14-1764178406, v4.14-1764178615, v4.14-1764178379, v4.14-1764178329, v4.14-1764178423, v4.14-1764215448, v4.15-1764176261, v4.15-1764176342, v4.15-1764176372, v4.15-1764176892, v4.15-1764176485, v4.15-1764176698, v4.15-1764176699, v4.15-1764176675, v4.15-1764177101, v4.15-1764176690, v4.15-1764221806, v4.15-1764222436, v4.15-1764177174, v4.15-1764177033, v4.15-1764176958, v4.15-1764177020, v4.15-1764177029, v4.16-1764168955, v4.16-1764169118, v4.16-1764169242, v4.16-1764169544, v4.16-1764169347, v4.16-1764169479, v4.16-1764169526, v4.16-1764169464, v4.16-1764169687, v4.16-1764169457, v4.16-1764169527, v4.16-1764169577, v4.16-1764169730, v4.16-1764169598, v4.16-1764169623, v4.16-1764169710, v4.16-1764170019, v4.16-1764170021, v4.17-1764167834, v4.17-1764167795, v4.17-1764167826, v4.17-1764167876, v4.17-1764168179, v4.17-1764167987, v4.17-1764168476, v4.17-1764168475, v4.17-1764168431, v4.17-1764168662, v4.17-1764168536, v4.17-1764168609, v4.17-1764168731, v4.17-1764168699, v4.17-1764168859, v4.17-1764169063, v4.17-1764169125, v4.17-1764169222, v4.18-1761854289, v4.18-1761854280, v4.18-1761854319, v4.18-1761855549, v4.18-1761854321, v4.18-1761854422, v4.18-1761854430, v4.18-1761854457, v4.18-1761854484, v4.18-1761854398, v4.18-1761854494, v4.18-1761854493, v4.18-1761854504, v4.18-1761854489, v4.18-1761855467, v4.18-1761854524, v4.18-1762335558, v4.18-1761855234