How severe is CVE-2020-8565?

CVE-2020-8565 has a CVSS score of 5.5/10, rated MEDIUM. Review your exposure and patch according to your risk tolerance.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2020-8565?

CVE-2020-8565 affects the following packages: k8s.io/client-go (Go), k8s.io/client-go (Go), k8s.io/client-go (Go), k8s.io/client-go (Go), k8s.io/kubernetes (Go). Ecosystems affected: Go.

How do I fix CVE-2020-8565?

Update k8s.io/client-go to 0.19.6 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-8565 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect CVE-2020-8565 in my Go dependencies?

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.

How do I mitigate CVE-2020-8565 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

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.

Is CVE-2020-8565 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2020-8565 yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2020-8565?

CVE-2020-8565 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 0.5%, placing it in the 44th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2020-8565?

CVE-2020-8565 is classified as CWE-532 (CWE-532). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

When was CVE-2020-8565 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2020-8565 was published on December 7, 2020 and was last updated on October 24, 2026. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

🐹

🐹 Go

Not in CISA KEV

MEDIUM severity

CVE-2020-8565 — client-go

MEDIUMFix: kubernetes/kubernetes#95316

CVE-2020-8565 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.5) CWE-532 vulnerability in k8s.io/client-go. A fix is available for k8s.io/client-go — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Kubernetes client-go vulnerable to Sensitive Information Leak via Log File

Also known asGHSA-8cfg-vx93-jvxwGO-2021-0064

Published

Dec 7, 2020

Updated

Oct 24, 2026

Affected

5 pkgs

Patched

5 / 5

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Nov 5, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

0.5%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs44th percentile — riskier than 44% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

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

5 pkgs affected

🐹k8s.io/client-go🐹k8s.io/client-go🐹k8s.io/client-go🐹k8s.io/client-go🐹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

In Kubernetes, if the logging level is set to at least 9, authorization and bearer tokens will be written to log files. This can occur both in API server logs and client tool output like kubectl. This affects <= v1.19.3, <= v1.18.10, <= v1.17.13, < v1.20.0-alpha2.

Affected Packages

5 total 5 fixed

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
🐹Go	`k8s.io/client-go`	≥ 0.19.0&&< 0.19.6	0.19.6`go get k8s.io/client-go@v0.19.6`
🐹Go	`k8s.io/client-go`	≥ 0.20.0-alpha.0&&< 0.20.0-alpha.2	0.20.0-alpha.2`go get k8s.io/client-go@v0.20.0-alpha.2`
🐹Go	`k8s.io/client-go`	≥ 0.18.0&&< 0.18.14	0.18.14`go get k8s.io/client-go@v0.18.14`
🐹Go	`k8s.io/client-go`	all versions	0.17.16`go get k8s.io/client-go@v0.17.16`
🐹Go	`k8s.io/kubernetes`	all versions	1.20.0-alpha.2`go get k8s.io/kubernetes@v1.20.0-alpha.2`

Affected Products

1 product · 3 configurations

Application

kuberneteskubernetes

≥ 1.19.0 && ≤ 1.19.3

range

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
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 0.19.6 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2020-8565 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.

Red HatModerate

OpenShift Container Platform 4 does not support LogLevels higher than 8 (via 'TraceAll'), and is therefore not affected by this vulnerability.

Product	Fixed in	Advisory
Red Hat OpenShift Container Storage 4.7.0 on RHEL-8	`ocs4/rook-ceph-rhel8-operator:4.7-140.49a6fcf.release_4.7`	RHSA-2021:2041
Red Hat OpenShift Container Storage 4.8.0 on RHEL-8	`ocs4/cephcsi-rhel8:4.8-125.01872cc.release_4.8`	RHBA-2021:3003
Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation 4.9.0 on RHEL-8	`mcg-0:5.9.0-28.61dcf87.5.9.el8`	RHSA-2021:5085
Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation 4.9.0 on RHEL-8	`odf4/cephcsi-rhel8:4.9-164.57484e3.release_4.9`	RHSA-2021:5086

Frequently Asked Questions

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2020-8565 in your dependencies?

Find it across Go, including transitive dependencies.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works

CVSS Score

5.5/10CVSS v3 base

Vector breakdown

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

None

Availability

None

Raw vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

CWE Classification

CWE-532CWE-532

Weaponization

No Nuclei template, Metasploit module or public proof-of-concept found.

OpenSSF Scorecard

Package health score

kubernetes

7.6/10

Code-Review10/10

Maintained10/10

Branch-ProtectionN/A

Assessed Oct 19, 2026

Timeline

Disclosed

Dec 7, 2020

Last updated

Oct 24, 2026

Identifiers

CVE-2020-8565

GHSA-8cfg-vx93-jvxw

GO-2021-0064

References

Advisorygithub.com Advisorynvd.nist.gov · CVE 2020 8565 Fixgroups.google.com · 36utxAM5CwAJ Webgithub.com Webgithub.com · 19875a3d5a2e0d4f51c976a9e0662de3c2c011e3 Webgithub.com · 1b8383fc150c9b816b0072032cca75754c2734d0 Webgithub.com · 44e1a07f2d513e375c4b6ee6e890040b47befe86 Webgithub.com · e8f871a2e5fadf90fc114565abc0963967f1a373 Webgithub.com · e99df0e5a75eb6e86123b56d53e9b7ca0fd00419 Webpkg.go.dev · GO 2021 0064 Packagegithub.com · client go

Related vulnerabilities

Also affects client-go

This CVE is medium severity, in line with the other 2 CVEs affecting client-go.

CVE-2019-11250CVE-2019-11244

Also affects kubernetes

This CVE is medium severity; 5 of 6 other CVEs affecting kubernetes are rated as high or higher (top: moderate).

CVE-2025-13281CVE-2025-5187CVE-2025-4563CVE-2025-1767CVE-2024-9042CVE-2025-0426

Provenance

Sources

OSV.devNVDFIRST.org (EPSS)

Last verifiedOct 24, 2026

CVE-2020-8565 — client-go

EPSS Exploitation Probability

How urgent is this, really

Where this sits among everything scored

Real-World Exposure

Description

Affected Packages

Affected Products

Detection & mitigation playbook

Detect

Fix

Workarounds

Fixing This On Your OS

Frequently Asked Questions

Is CVE-2020-8565 in your dependencies?