CVE-2019-11244 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5) CWE-524 vulnerability in k8s.io/client-go. A fix is available for k8s.io/client-go — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Kubernetes Unsafe Cacheing
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
k8s.io/client-goReal-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 Kubernetes v1.8.x-v1.14.x, schema info is cached by kubectl in the location specified by --cache-dir (defaulting to $HOME/.kube/http-cache), written with world-writeable permissions (rw-rw-rw-). If --cache-dir is specified and pointed at a different location accessible to other users/groups, the written files may be modified by other users/groups and disrupt the kubectl invocation.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | k8s.io/client-go | ≥ 1.8.0&&< 1.12.9 | 1.12.9go get k8s.io/client-go@v1.12.9 |
Affected Products
kuberneteskubernetestridentnetappopenshift container platformredhatDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for k8s.io/client-go, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update k8s.io/client-go to 1.12.9 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2019-11244 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
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.
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.
OpenShift Container Platform includes kubectl. OCP 3.9 and later include this same flaw. This issue does not affect the version of Kubernetes (embedded in heketi) shipped with Red Hat Gluster Storage 3 as it does not contain the vulnerable functionality.
Do not use --cache-dir, or ensure that --cache-dir is not set to a location that other users have access to.Source: Red Hat security advisory for CVE-2019-11244 (CC BY 4.0)
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 3.11 | atomic-openshift-0:3.11.161-1.git.0.4ccbe25.el7 | RHSA-2020:0020 |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.1 | openshift-0:4.1.24-201911080309.git.0.c41acf2.el7 | RHSA-2019:3942 |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.1 | openshift4/ose-cli:v4.1.24-201911120311 | RHSA-2020:0074 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2019-11244 in your dependencies?
Find it across Go, including transitive dependencies.