Backstage: Improper entity validation in deprecated Kubernetes services endpointGHSA-r9ph-3637-55px
MEDIUMFix: backstage/backstage@2d5d3e7GHSA-r9ph-3637-55px is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.3) Improper Input Validation vulnerability in @backstage/plugin-kubernetes-backend. A fix is available for @backstage/plugin-kubernetes-backend — see the affected versions and patch details below.
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 GHSA-r9ph-3637-55px.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
GHSA-r9ph-3637-55px by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 394,803 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.
Real-World Exposure
How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, and reverse-dependency count shows how many other packages break if it stays unpatched.
@backstage/plugin-kubernetes-backendnpmDescription
Impact
An authenticated user with Kubernetes read permissions could access Kubernetes workload data beyond their intended scope by supplying crafted entity data to the deprecated services endpoint. The exposure is limited to read-only access to Kubernetes object metadata across configured clusters.
Patches
Patched in @backstage/plugin-kubernetes-backend version 0.21.8.
Workarounds
- Disable the deprecated
/services/:serviceIdroute by deploying a custom Kubernetes router that omits it. - Restrict access to the
kubernetes.resources.readpermission to limit the set of users who can reach the endpoint.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📦npm | @backstage/plugin-kubernetes-backend | all versions | 0.21.8npm install @backstage/plugin-kubernetes-backend@0.21.8 |
Affected Products
backstagelinuxfoundationbackstage\/plugin-kubernetes-backendlinuxfoundationDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for @backstage/plugin-kubernetes-backend, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update @backstage/plugin-kubernetes-backend to 0.21.8 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-r9ph-3637-55px is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Put an independent control in front of the weakness: restrict the affected endpoint or interface to trusted networks, require an additional authentication factor or proxy-level check, and invalidate existing sessions and credentials in case the flaw has already been used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-r9ph-3637-55px in your dependencies?
Find it across npm, including transitive dependencies.