IBM Support

Security Bulletin: IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service is affected by a privilege escalation vulnerability in runc

Security Bulletin


Summary

IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service is affected by a security vulnerability in runc which could allow an attacker that is authorized to run a process as root inside a container to execute arbitrary commands with root privileges on the container’s host system.

Vulnerability Details

CVE-ID: CVE-2019-5736
Description: Runc could allow a local attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the system, cause by the improper handling of system file descriptors when running containers. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability using a malicious container to overwrite the contents of the host runc binary and execute arbitrary commands with root privileges on the host system.
CVSS Base Score: 7.7
CVSS Temporal Score: https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/156819 for more information
CVSS Environmental Score*: Undefined
CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H)

Affected Products and Versions

All versions of IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service are impacted.

Authenticated users on all versions that are authorized to run a process as root (UID 0) inside a container can exploit the vulnerability in runc. This can be done by running a container with a malicious image, or by any other means by which commands can be executed in a container, for example, kubectl exec. This exploit enables a malicious user to gain root privileges on the host running the container. Containers that cannot run processes as root are not exploitable.

To help mitigate this vulnerability, you are highly encouraged to Configure pod security policies in your cluster to prevent container processes from running as root.

Remediation/Fixes

Updates for IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service cluster worker nodes at versions 1.10 and later are available that fix this vulnerability.  Customers must update their worker nodes to address the vulnerability.  See Updating worker nodes for details on updating worker nodes.  To verify your cluster worker nodes have been updated, use the following IBM Cloud CLI command to confirm the currently running version:

ibmcloud ks workers --cluster <cluster name or ID>
If the Kubernetes version is at one of the following patch levels or later the cluster worker node update has completed successfully:

1.10.12_1544
1.11.7_1544
1.12.5_1538
1.13.2_1508

Customers running IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service clusters at versions 1.7, 1.8 or 1.9 must upgrade their affected clusters to version 1.10. See Updating clusters for details on upgrading the cluster master and worker nodes.

Customers running IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service clusters at version 1.5 must create a new cluster and migrate their apps to it.

Note: IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service versions 1.5, 1.7, 1.8 and 1.9 are no longer supported.  See the IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service Version information and update actions documentation for more information about Kubernetes versions and version support policies.

Get Notified about Future Security Bulletins

Subscribe to My Notifications to be notified of important product support alerts like this.

References

Complete CVSS v3 Guide
On-line Calculator v3

Off

Runc and CVE-2019-5736

Related Information

IBM Secure Engineering Web Portal
IBM Product Security Incident Response Blog

*The CVSS Environment Score is customer environment specific and will ultimately impact the Overall CVSS Score. Customers can evaluate the impact of this vulnerability in their environments by accessing the links in the Reference section of this Security Bulletin.

Disclaimer

Review the IBM security bulletin disclaimer and definitions regarding your responsibilities for assessing potential impact of security vulnerabilities to your environment.

[{"Business Unit":{"code":"BU059","label":"IBM Software w\/o TPS"},"Product":{"code":"SSJTBP","label":"IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service and Red Hat OpenShift on IBM Cloud"},"Component":"--","Platform":[{"code":"PF025","label":"Platform Independent"}],"Version":"All Versions","Edition":"","Line of Business":{"code":"LOB21","label":"Public Cloud Platform"}}]

Document Information

Modified date:
18 February 2019

UID

ibm10871600

Page Feedback