Security Digest · Vulnerability record
CVE-2020-14316: Privilege Escalation in kubevirt
A flaw was found in kubevirt 0.29 and earlier.
CVSS 9.9 Critical EPSS 1.6% · p75
Should you act?
Critical, preconditions apply
Severe if exploited, but exploitation needs conditions that may not apply to you. This signal is computed from CISA KEV, EPSS and CVSS data; it is not an editorial verdict.
- No confirmed exploitation. It is not in CISA’s KEV catalog. That can change quickly after a public write-up; re-check if you are affected.
- EPSS 1.6%, percentile 75: FIRST’s model estimates a 1.6% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 75% of all scored CVEs (moderate). EPSS is a probability, not a verdict.
- Needs an account (low (any account)). Exposure depends on who can log in.
- Only applies if your dependency tree includes
kubevirt.io/kubevirt(Go) < 0.30.0, fixed in 0.30.0. Check your lockfile, including transitive dependencies.
What it is
A flaw was found in kubevirt 0.29 and earlier. Virtual Machine Instances (VMIs) can be used to gain access to the host's filesystem. Successful exploitation allows an attacker to assume the privileges of the VM process on the host system. In worst-case scenarios an attacker can read and modify any file on the system where the VMI is running. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity as well as system availability.
From the GitHub advisory
A flaw was found in kubevirt 0.29 and earlier. Virtual Machine Instances (VMIs) can be used to gain access to the host's filesystem. Successful exploitation allows an attacker to assume the privileges of the VM process on the host system. In worst-case scenarios an attacker can read and modify any file on the system where the VMI is running. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to data confidentiality and integrity as well as system availability.
Weakness type: CWE-269.
Product: kubevirt.io/kubevirt (Go) · Assigned by: redhat · Published: 2020-07-29
Affected and fixed versions
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable | First fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Go | kubevirt.io/kubevirt | < 0.30.0 | 0.30.0 |
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions (per CVE record) |
|---|---|---|
| n/a | kubevirt | All versions before kubevirt 0.30. |
Severity scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub | 3.1 | 9.9 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H |
- Attack vector: network (remotely reachable)
- Attack complexity: low
- Privileges required: low (any account)
- User interaction: none
- Scope: changed (can affect other components)
CVSS measures how bad a flaw is if exploited, not how likely exploitation is. Read it next to the exploitation data below.
Exploitation and urgency
- CISA KEV: not listed (no confirmed in-the-wild exploitation known to CISA).
- FIRST EPSS (model of 2026-10-21): 1.58% probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 75.
Timeline
- — CVE record published by redhat
- — GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-828r-r2c8-rfw3 published (critical)
- — CVE record last updated
Sources and references
Original sources first. Version and fix details should always be confirmed against the vendor or project advisory.
Vulnerability records
- GitHub Advisory GHSA-828r-r2c8-rfw3 github.com
- CVE.org record CVE-2020-14316 cve.org
- NVD entry CVE-2020-14316 nvd.nist.gov
Other references from the CVE record and advisory
- bugzilla.redhat.com bugzilla.redhat.com
- github.com github.com