CVE-2021-3495 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.8) CWE-281 vulnerability in github.com/kiali/kiali. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2021-3495 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Access control flaw in Kiali
Real-World Exposure
github.com/kiali/kialiReal-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
An incorrect access control flaw was found in the kiali-operator in versions before 1.33.0. This flaw allows an attacker with a basic level of access to the cluster (to deploy a kiali operand) to use this vulnerability and deploy a given image to anywhere in the cluster, potentially gaining access to privileged service account tokens. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity as well as system availability.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/kiali/kiali | all versions | 1.33.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/kiali/kiali. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update github.com/kiali/kiali to 1.33.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-3495 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.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2021-3495 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2021-3495. 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.
In regards to the ServiceMesh `openshift-service-mesh/kiali-rhel7` container, it has been superseded by the `openshift-service-mesh/kiali-rhel8` container and is no longer supported.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2021-3495 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2021-3495 across Go dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.