{"schema_version":"1.9.0","id":"CVE-2023-26484","published":"2023-03-15T20:40:17.424Z","modified":"2026-08-12T03:51:22.128034057Z","aliases":["GHSA-cp96-jpmq-xrr2"],"related":["SUSE-SU-2023:1967-1","openSUSE-SU-2024:12792-1","openSUSE-SU-2026:11057-1","openSUSE-SU-2026:11091-1"],"summary":"On a compromised KubeVirt node, the virt-handler service account can be used to modify all node specs","details":"KubeVirt is a virtual machine management add-on for Kubernetes. In versions 0.59.0 and prior, if a malicious user has taken over a Kubernetes node where virt-handler (the KubeVirt node-daemon) is running, the virt-handler service account can be used to modify all node specs. This can be misused to lure-in system-level-privileged components which can, for instance, read all secrets on the cluster, or can exec into pods on other nodes. This way, a compromised node can be used to elevate privileges beyond the node until potentially having full privileged access to the whole cluster. The simplest way to exploit this, once a user could compromise a specific node, is to set with the virt-handler service account all other nodes to unschedulable and simply wait until system-critical components with high privileges appear on its node. No patches are available as of time of publication. As a workaround, gatekeeper users can add a webhook which will block the `virt-handler` service account to modify the spec of a node.","affected":[{"ranges":[{"type":"GIT","repo":"https://github.com/kubevirt/kubevirt","events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"last_affected":"78f5184d1794838c5fc5061f920273fb4e5283ed"}],"database_specific":{"cpe":"cpe:2.3:a:kubevirt:kubevirt:*:*:*:*:*:kubernetes:*:*","extracted_events":[{"introduced":"0"},{"last_affected":"0.59.0"}],"source":["AFFECTED_FIELD","CPE_RANGE"]}}],"versions":["v0.59.0-rc.2","v0.59.0","v0.59.0-rc.1","v0.59.0-rc.0","v0.59.0-alpha.2","v0.59.0-alpha.1","v0.59.0-alpha.0","v0.58.0-rc.0","v0.58.0","v0.57.0-rc.0","v0.57.0","v0.56.0-rc.0","v0.55.0-rc.0","v0.55.0","v0.54.0-rc.0","v0.54.0","v0.53.0-rc.0","v0.53.0","v0.52.0-rc.0","v0.52.0","v0.51.0-rc.0","v0.51.0","v0.50.0-rc.0","v0.50.0","v0.49.0-rc.0","v0.49.0","v0.48.0-rc.0","v0.48.0","v0.47.0-rc.0","v0.46.0-rc.0","v0.46.0","v0.45.0-rc.0","v0.45.0","v0.44.0-rc.0","v0.44.0","v0.43.1-rc.1","v0.43.0-rc.0","v0.35.0-rc.0","v0.35.0","v0.42.0-rc.0","v0.42.0","v0.41.0-rc.0","v0.40.0-rc.0","v0.39.0-rc.0","v0.38.0-rc.0","v0.38.0","v0.37.0-rc.0","v0.36.0-rc.0","v0.34.0-rc.0","v0.33.0-rc.0","v0.32.0-rc.1","v0.31.0-rc.1","v0.31.0","v0.30.0-rc.4","v0.30.0","v0.30.0-rc.2","v0.30.0-rc.3","v0.30.0-rc.0","v0.30.0-rc.1","v0.29.0-rc.1","v0.29.0","v0.29.0-rc.0","v0.28.0-rc.2","v0.28.0-rc.0","v0.28.0-rc.1","v0.28.0","v0.27.0-rc.0","v0.27.0","v0.26.1","v0.26.0-rc.0","v0.26.0","v0.25.0-rc.0","v0.25.0","v0.24.0","v0.23.0","v0.22.0","v0.21.0","v0.20.0","v0.19.0-rc.0","v0.19.0","v0.18.0","v0.17.0","v0.17.0-alpha.1","v0.17.0-alpha.0","v0.16.0","v0.16.0-alpha.0","v0.15.0","v0.15.0-alpha.0","v0.14.0","v0.13.0","v0.12.0","v0.12.0-alpha.3","v0.12.0-alpha.2","v0.12.0-alpha.1","v0.11.1","v0.10.0","v0.11.0","v0.12.0-alpha.0","v0.9.3","v0.9.2","v0.9.1","v0.9.0","v0.9.0-alpha.1","v0.8.0","v0.9.0-alpha.0","v0.8.0-alpha.2","v0.8.0-alpha.1","v0.8.0-alpha.0","v0.7.0","v0.7.0-alpha.2","v0.6.1","v0.7.0-alpha.5","v0.7.0-alpha.4","v0.7.0-alpha.3","v0.7.0-alpha.1","v0.7.0-alpha.0","v0.6.1-alpha.0","v0.6.0","v0.5.1-alpha.3","v0.5.1-alpha.2","v0.5.1-alpha.1","v0.5.0","v0.5.0-alpha.1","v0.5.0-alpha.0","v0.4.1","v0.4.1-alpha.2","v0.4.1-alpha.1","v0.4.0","v0.4.0-alpha.2","v0.4.0-alpha.1","v0.4.0-alpha.0","v0.3.0","v0.3.0-alpha.4","v0.3.0-alpha.0","v0.3.0-alpha.3","v0.3.0-alpha.2","v0.3.0-alpha.1","v0.2.0","v0.1.0","v0.1.0-alpha","v0.0.4","v0.0.3","v0.0.2","v0.0.1-alpha.6","v0.0.1-alpha.5","v0.0.1-alpha.4","v0.0.1-alpha.3","v0.0.1-alpha.2","v0.0.1-alpha.1","v0.0.1-alpha.0"],"database_specific":{"source":"https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2023-26484.json"}}],"references":[{"type":"ADVISORY","url":"https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2023/26xxx/CVE-2023-26484.json"},{"type":"ADVISORY","url":"https://github.com/kubevirt/kubevirt/security/advisories/GHSA-cp96-jpmq-xrr2"},{"type":"ADVISORY","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-26484"},{"type":"REPORT","url":"https://github.com/kubevirt/kubevirt/issues/9109"}],"database_specific":{"cna_assigner":"GitHub_M","cwe_ids":["CWE-863"],"osv_generated_from":"https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2023/26xxx/CVE-2023-26484.json"},"severity":[{"type":"CVSS_V3","score":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N"}]}