CVE-2019-1002100 — kubernetes
MEDIUMCVE-2019-1002100 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.5) CWE-770 vulnerability in k8s.io/kubernetes. EPSS puts its 30-day exploitation probability at 10.8% (96th percentile). A fix is available for k8s.io/kubernetes — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Kubernetes DoS Vulnerability
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2019-1002100 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 378,156 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the 10–50% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
k8s.io/kubernetes🐹k8s.io/kubernetes🐹k8s.io/kubernetes🐹k8s.io/kubernetesReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Go packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
In all Kubernetes versions prior to v1.11.8, v1.12.6, and v1.13.4, users that are authorized to make patch requests to the Kubernetes API Server can send a specially crafted patch of type "json-patch" (e.g. kubectl patch --type json or "Content-Type: application/json-patch+json") that consumes excessive resources while processing, causing a Denial of Service on the API Server.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | k8s.io/kubernetes | ≥ 1.0.0 | No fix |
| 🐹Go | k8s.io/kubernetes | ≥ 1.11.0&&< 1.11.8 | 1.11.8go get k8s.io/kubernetes@v1.11.8 |
| 🐹Go | k8s.io/kubernetes | ≥ 1.12.0&&< 1.12.6 | 1.12.6go get k8s.io/kubernetes@v1.12.6 |
| 🐹Go | k8s.io/kubernetes | ≥ 1.13.0&&< 1.13.4 | 1.13.4go get k8s.io/kubernetes@v1.13.4 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for k8s.io/kubernetes, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
No patched version of k8s.io/kubernetes has shipped for CVE-2019-1002100 yet. Where your build allows, override or pin the dependency away from the vulnerable range, and apply any maintainer-recommended mitigation.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2019-1002100 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2019-1002100. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Fixing This On Your OS
If you run this on a Linux distribution, patch through your package manager against the distro's own security advisory below — it tracks the exact backported fix for your release, which can ship on a different timeline (and sometimes a different severity) than the upstream project.
This issue affects the Kubernetes API Server, shipped in OpenShift Container Platform versions 3.4 through 3.11 as part of the atomic-openshift package. Red Hat Product Security has rated this issue as having a security impact of Moderate. A future update may address this issue. For additional information, refer to…
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 3.10 | atomic-openshift-0:3.10.181-1.git.0.3ab4b3d.el7 | RHSA-2019:3239 |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 3.11 | atomic-openshift-0:3.11.129-1.git.0.bd4f2d5.el7 | RHSA-2019:1851 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2019-1002100 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2019-1002100 across Go dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.