CVE-2020-8552 is a medium-severity (CVSS 4.3) CWE-789 vulnerability in k8s.io/apiserver. A fix is available for k8s.io/apiserver — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Kubernetes API Server DoS Via API Requests
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2020-8552 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 385,738 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.
Real-World Exposure
k8s.io/apiserver🐹k8s.io/apiserver🐹k8s.io/apiserverReal-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 Kubernetes API server component in Kubernetes versions prior to 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 successful API requests.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | k8s.io/apiserver | all versions | 0.15.10go get k8s.io/apiserver@v0.15.10 |
| 🐹Go | k8s.io/apiserver | ≥ 0.16.0&&< 0.16.7 | 0.16.7go get k8s.io/apiserver@v0.16.7 |
| 🐹Go | k8s.io/apiserver | ≥ 0.17.0&&< 0.17.3 | 0.17.3go get k8s.io/apiserver@v0.17.3 |
Affected Products
fedorafedoraprojectkuberneteskubernetesDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for k8s.io/apiserver, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update k8s.io/apiserver to 0.15.10 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-8552 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
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.
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.
Prevent unauthenticated or unauthorized access to all APIsSource: Red Hat security advisory for CVE-2020-8552 (CC BY 4.0)
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 3.11 | atomic-enterprise-service-catalog-1:3.11.219-1.git.1.717017c.el7 | RHBA-2020:2215 |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 3.11 | atomic-openshift-0:3.11.248-1.git.0.92ee8ac.el7 | RHSA-2020:2992 |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.2 | openshift4/ose-hyperkube:v4.2.29-202004140532 | RHSA-2020:1526 |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.2 | openshift-0:4.2.29-202004110432.git.0.f7d02c8.el8 | RHSA-2020:1527 |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.2 | openshift4/ose-openshift-apiserver-rhel7:v4.2.34-202005252115 | RHSA-2020:2306 |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.3 | openshift-0:4.3.9-202003230116.git.0.ebf9a26.el7 | RHBA-2020:0929 |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.3 | openshift4/ose-hyperkube:v4.3.9-202003230345 | RHBA-2020:0930 |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.3 | openshift4/ose-openshift-apiserver-rhel7:v4.3.9-202003230345 | RHSA-2020:0933 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2020-8552 in your dependencies?
Find it across Go, including transitive dependencies.