CVE-2024-5042 is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.6) CWE-250 vulnerability in github.com/submariner-io/submariner-operator. A fix is available for github.com/submariner-io/submariner-operator — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Submariner-operator: rbac permissions can allow for the spread of node compromises
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
- 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-2024-5042.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2024-5042 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 378,156 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
github.com/submariner-io/submariner-operator🐹github.com/submariner-io/submariner-operator🐹github.com/submariner-io/submariner-operator🐹github.com/submariner-io/submariner-operatorReal-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
A flaw was found in the Submariner project. Due to unnecessary role-based access control permissions, a privileged attacker can run a malicious container on a node that may allow them to steal service account tokens and further compromise other nodes and potentially the entire cluster.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/submariner-io/submariner-operator | ≥ 0.16.0-m0&&< 0.16.4 | 0.16.4go get github.com/submariner-io/submariner-operator@v0.16.4 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/submariner-io/submariner-operator | ≥ 0.17.0-m0&&< 0.17.2 | 0.17.2go get github.com/submariner-io/submariner-operator@v0.17.2 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/submariner-io/submariner-operator | all versions | 0.15.4go get github.com/submariner-io/submariner-operator@v0.15.4 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/submariner-io/submariner-operator | ≥ 0.18.0-m0&&< 0.18.0-rc0 | 0.18.0-rc0go get github.com/submariner-io/submariner-operator@v0.18.0-rc0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/submariner-io/submariner-operator, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update github.com/submariner-io/submariner-operator to 0.16.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-5042 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 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2024-5042 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2024-5042. 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.
For the submariner operator in Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes, the submariner-security outlined potential vulnerabilities regarding RBAC permissions being too broad. Those permissions make it possible to create, patch or update statefulsets or replicasets resources. This may allow new privileged…
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| RHODF-4.16-RHEL-9 | odf4/odf-multicluster-rhel9-operator:v4.16.0-19 | RHSA-2024:4591 |
| Red Hat Openshift Data Foundation 4.20 | odf4/cephcsi-rhel9:1774540992 | RHSA-2026:6503 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2024-5042 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2024-5042 across Go dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.