# CVE-2023-27593: cilium — Fixed in 1.11.15

🐹

🐹 Go

Not in CISA KEV

MEDIUM severity

# CVE-2023-27593 — cilium

MEDIUM [Fix: cilium/cilium#24075](https://github.com/cilium/cilium/pull/24075)

CVE-2023-27593 is a medium-severity (CVSS 4.4) Incorrect Default Permissions vulnerability in github.com/cilium/cilium. A fix is available for github.com/cilium/cilium — see the affected versions and patch details below.

cilium-agent container can access the host via \`hostPath\` mount

Also known asBIT-cilium-2023-27593BIT-cilium-operator-2023-27593BIT-cilium-proxy-2023-27593BIT-hubble-2023-27593BIT-hubble-relay-2023-27593BIT-hubble-ui-2023-27593

Published

Mar 17, 2023

Updated

Oct 28, 2026

Affected

3 pkgs

Patched

3 / 3

Exploits

None indexed

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

## Exploitation Status

### No confirmed exploitation observed yet

-   CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.

Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2023-27593.

## EPSS Exploitation Probability

[via FIRST.org ↗](https://www.first.org/epss/)

0.2%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs12th percentile — riskier than 12% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

0.00%0.24%0.48%0.72%0.0%0.2%May 26Sep 26Nov 26

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from [FIRST.org EPSS](https://www.first.org/epss/).

## How urgent is this, really

## Where this sits among everything scored

## Real-World Exposure

3 pkgs affected

🐹`github.com/cilium/cilium`🐹`github.com/cilium/cilium`🐹`github.com/cilium/cilium`

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

#### Impact

An attacker with access to a Cilium agent pod can write to `/opt/cni/bin` due to a `hostPath` mount of that directory in the agent pod. By replacing the CNI binary with their own malicious binary and waiting for the creation of a new pod on the node, the attacker can gain access to the underlying node.

#### Patches

The issue has been fixed and is available on versions >=1.11.15, >=1.12.8, >=1.13.1.

#### Workarounds

[Kubernetes RBAC](https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/access-authn-authz/rbac/) should be used to deny users and service accounts `exec` access to Cilium agent pods.

In cases where a user requires `exec` access to Cilium agent pods, but should not have access to the underlying node, no workaround is possible.

#### References

-   [PR containing resolution](https://github.com/cilium/cilium/pull/24075)

#### Acknowledgements

The Cilium community has worked together with members of Isovalent and Form3 to prepare these mitigations. Special thanks to Anastasios Koutlis, Daniel Teixeira, and Magdalena Oczadly for their cooperation.

#### For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory, please reach out on [Slack](https://docs.cilium.io/en/latest/community/community/#slack).

As usual, if you think you found a related vulnerability, we strongly encourage you to report security vulnerabilities to our private security mailing list: [security@cilium.io](mailto:security@cilium.io) - first, before disclosing them in any public forums. This is a private mailing list where only members of the Cilium internal security team are subscribed to, and is treated as top priority.

## Affected Packages

3 total 3 fixed

Ecosystem

Package

Vulnerable range

Fix

🐹Go

`github.com/cilium/cilium` 

all versions

1.11.15`go get github.com/cilium/cilium@v1.11.15`

🐹Go

`github.com/cilium/cilium` 

≥ 1.12.0&&< 1.12.8

1.12.8`go get github.com/cilium/cilium@v1.12.8`

🐹Go

`github.com/cilium/cilium` 

≥ 1.13.0&&< 1.13.1

1.13.1`go get github.com/cilium/cilium@v1.13.1`

## Affected Products

1 product · 3 configurations

Application

`cilium`cilium

≥ 1.13.0 && < 1.13.1

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 github.com/cilium/cilium, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
    
2.  ### Fix
    
    Update github.com/cilium/cilium to 1.11.15 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-27593 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
    
3.  ### Workarounds
    
    Close the privilege gap rather than the entry point: audit which accounts, roles and service identities can reach the affected operation, drop the component to the least privilege it actually needs, and review file and directory permissions created by earlier installs — a default left in place is what makes this reachable.
    

## Frequently Asked Questions

\### Impact An attacker with access to a Cilium agent pod can write to \`/opt/cni/bin\` due to a \`hostPath\` mount of that directory in the agent pod. By replacing the CNI binary with their own malicious binary and waiting for the creation of a new pod on the node, the attacker can gain access to the underlying node. ### Patches The issue has been fixed and is available on versions >=1.11.15, >=1.12.8, >=1.13.1. ### Workarounds \[Kubernetes RBAC\](https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/access-authn-authz/rbac/) should be used to deny users and service accounts \`exec\` access to Cilium agent pods.

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

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