GHSA-jh36-q97c-9928 — kubernetes
HIGHGHSA-jh36-q97c-9928 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.8) Improper Input Validation vulnerability in github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes. A fix is available for github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Kubernetes vulnerable to validation bypass
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 GHSA-jh36-q97c-9928.
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
GHSA-jh36-q97c-9928 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 376,715 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/kubernetes/kubernetes🐹github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes🐹github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes🐹github.com/kubernetes/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
Users may have access to secure endpoints in the control plane network. Kubernetes clusters are only affected if an untrusted user can modify Node objects and send proxy requests to them. Kubernetes supports node proxying, which allows clients of kube-apiserver to access endpoints of a Kubelet to establish connections to Pods, retrieve container logs, and more. While Kubernetes already validates the proxying address for Nodes, a bug in kube-apiserver made it possible to bypass this validation. Bypassing this validation could allow authenticated requests destined for Nodes to to the API server's private network.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes | ≥ 1.25.0&&< 1.25.4 | 1.25.4go get github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes@v1.25.4 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes | ≥ 1.24.0&&< 1.24.8 | 1.24.8go get github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes@v1.24.8 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes | ≥ 1.23.0&&< 1.23.14 | 1.23.14go get github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes@v1.23.14 |
| 🐹Go | github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes | ≥ 1.22.0&&< 1.22.16 | 1.22.16go get github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes@v1.22.16 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes to 1.25.4 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-jh36-q97c-9928 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 GHSA-jh36-q97c-9928 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-jh36-q97c-9928. 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.
Kubernetes clusters are only affected if an untrusted user can modify Node objects and send requests proxying through them. The "openshift" component of Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 was fixed in RHBA-2023:0452 and as such is marked not affected.
| Product | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.12 | microshift-0:4.12.1-202301261525.p0.g3db9e81.assembly.4.12.1.el8 | RHBA-2023:0452 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-jh36-q97c-9928 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-jh36-q97c-9928 across Go dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.