CVE-2025-13281 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.8) Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) vulnerability in k8s.io/kubernetes. A fix is available for k8s.io/kubernetes — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Portworx Half-Blind SSRF in kube-controller-manager
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-2025-13281.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
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
k8s.io/kubernetes🐹k8s.io/kubernetes🐹k8s.io/kubernetesReal-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 half-blind Server Side Request Forgery (SSRF) vulnerability exists in kube-controller-manager when using the in-tree Portworx StorageClass. This vulnerability allows authorized users to leak arbitrary information from unprotected endpoints in the control plane’s host network (including link-local or loopback services).
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | k8s.io/kubernetes | all versions | 1.32.10go get k8s.io/kubernetes@v1.32.10 |
| 🐹Go | k8s.io/kubernetes | ≥ 1.33.0-alpha.0&&< 1.33.6 | 1.33.6go get k8s.io/kubernetes@v1.33.6 |
| 🐹Go | k8s.io/kubernetes | ≥ 1.34.0-alpha.0&&< 1.34.2 | 1.34.2go get k8s.io/kubernetes@v1.34.2 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for k8s.io/kubernetes, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update k8s.io/kubernetes to 1.32.10 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2025-13281 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Restrict outbound requests from the affected component to an allowlist of hosts, block access to link-local and internal address ranges at the network layer, and require authentication on internal services so a forged request cannot reach them unauthenticated.
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.
This issue is classified as a Moderate vulnerability rather than an Important flaw because its exploitability and impact are significantly constrained by design and configuration prerequisites. Exploitation requires pre-existing high privileges, as the attacker must already be authorized to create pods using the…
No mitigation is currently available that meets Red Hat Product Security’s standards for usability, deployment, applicability, or stability.Source: Red Hat security advisory for CVE-2025-13281 (CC BY 4.0)
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2025-13281 in your dependencies?
Find it across Go, including transitive dependencies.