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CVE-2023-3955 — Vulnerability in k8s.io/kubernetes — CVE Details

HIGH

Kubernetes privilege escalation vulnerability

Published October 31, 2023Updated September 10, 2026Source: osv

Summary

A security issue was discovered in Kubernetes where a user that can create pods on Windows nodes may be able to escalate to admin privileges on those nodes. Kubernetes clusters are only affected if they include Windows nodes.

Advisory Timeline

  • First published October 31, 2023 (1077 days ago).
  • Last revised September 10, 2026 — 1044 days after initial publication.

Remediation

Upgrade to the fixed version using your package manager.

Go
Update k8s.io/kubernetes to 1.26.8 or later
go get k8s.io/kubernetes@v1.26.8
Go
Update k8s.io/kubernetes to 1.24.17 or later
go get k8s.io/kubernetes@v1.24.17
Go
Update k8s.io/kubernetes to 1.25.13 or later
go get k8s.io/kubernetes@v1.25.13
Go
Update k8s.io/kubernetes to 1.28.1 or later
go get k8s.io/kubernetes@v1.28.1
Go
Update k8s.io/kubernetes to 1.27.5 or later
go get k8s.io/kubernetes@v1.27.5

After upgrading, run your dependency scanner again to confirm the vulnerability is resolved.

Affected Packages (5)

Affects 1 ecosystem: go (1).

PackageEcosystemAffectedFixed In
k8s.io/kubernetes
go
All versions1.26.8
k8s.io/kubernetes
go
All versions1.24.17
k8s.io/kubernetes
go
All versions1.25.13
k8s.io/kubernetes
go
1.28.01.28.1
k8s.io/kubernetes
go
All versions1.27.5

Vulnerability Classification

Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) identifiers for this vulnerability type.

  • CWE-20
    Improper Input ValidationMITRE

CVSS Score Breakdown

What the CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) 8.8 score means for each attack dimension.

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2023-3955?
Kubernetes privilege escalation vulnerability This vulnerability has been assigned a severity rating of HIGH (CVSS score: 8.8/10).
How do I check if my project is affected by CVE-2023-3955?
CVE-2023-3955 affects k8s.io/kubernetes. Use GeekWala's free vulnerability scanner to check your dependencies against CVE-2023-3955 and 200,000+ other known vulnerabilities.

Severity & Exploitability

CVSS Score
8.8

High exploitability or significant impact. Prioritize remediation within days.

Also Known As

GHSA-q78c-gwqw-jcmc
GO-2023-2170

Related CVEs

  • CVE-2026-107809
    HIGH

    Nginx-UI AuthRequired token cookie fallback enables CSRF against management APIs

  • CVE-2023-3676
    HIGH

    Kubernetes privilege escalation vulnerability

  • CVE-2026-107813
    HIGH

    Nginx UI: Incomplete fix of CVE-2026-84315 - the api/cluster router was not - wrapped in RequireSecureSession, so those sensitive mutations run without OTP step-up

  • CVE-2023-5528
    HIGH

    Kubernetes Improper Input Validation vulnerability

More Go Modules advisories

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