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MEDIUM severity

CVE-2020-8551 — kubernetes

MEDIUMFix: kubernetes/kubernetes#87913

CVE-2020-8551 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.5) CWE-789 vulnerability in k8s.io/kubernetes. A fix is available for k8s.io/kubernetes — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling and Uncontrolled Memory Allocation in Kubernetes

Also known asGHSA-qhm4-jxv7-j9pqGO-2022-0867
Published
Updated
Affected
3 pkgs
Patched
3 / 3
Exploits
None indexed
Exploitation data as of Oct 12, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗
1.2%probability of exploitation in next 30 days
Lower Risk0.00%
Lower risk than most CVEs68th percentile — riskier than 68% of all scored CVEsHighest risk
0.00%0.58%1.16%1.74%0.6%1.2%Apr 26Aug 26Oct 26

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

CVE-2020-8551 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.

Where this sits among everything scored

Of 386,684 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.

Real-World Exposure

3 pkgs affected
🐹k8s.io/kubernetes🐹k8s.io/kubernetes🐹k8s.io/kubernetes

Real-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

The Kubelet component in versions 1.15.0-1.15.9, 1.16.0-1.16.6, and 1.17.0-1.17.2 has been found to be vulnerable to a denial of service attack via the kubelet API, including the unauthenticated HTTP read-only API typically served on port 10255, and the authenticated HTTPS API typically served on port 10250.

Affected Packages

3 total 3 fixed
EcosystemPackageVulnerable rangeFix
🐹Gok8s.io/kubernetes≥ 1.15.0&&< 1.15.101.15.10go get k8s.io/kubernetes@v1.15.10
🐹Gok8s.io/kubernetes≥ 1.16.0&&< 1.16.61.16.6go get k8s.io/kubernetes@v1.16.6
🐹Gok8s.io/kubernetes≥ 1.17.0&&< 1.17.21.17.2go get k8s.io/kubernetes@v1.17.2

Affected Products

2 products · 4 configurations
OS
fedorafedoraproject
1 version
32
Application
kuberneteskubernetes
≥ 1.17.0 && ≤ 1.17.2
range

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

  1. Detect

    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.

  2. Fix

    Update k8s.io/kubernetes to 1.15.10 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-8551 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

  3. Workarounds

    Cap what an attacker can consume: apply request size, rate and timeout limits in front of the affected component, and run it with memory and CPU limits so exhaustion degrades one worker rather than the whole service.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Kubelet component in versions 1.15.0-1.15.9, 1.16.0-1.16.6, and 1.17.0-1.17.2 has been found to be vulnerable to a denial of service attack via the kubelet API, including the unauthenticated HTTP read-only API typically served on port 10255, and the authenticated HTTPS API typically served on port 10250.
O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

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CVE-2020-8551: kubernetes DoS — Fixed in 1.15.10