CVE-2021-41254
8.8 · HIGHOverview
CVE-2021-41254 is a high-severity vulnerability affecting fluxcd kustomize-controller. It was published on November 12, 2021 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.8 (HIGH).
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.8, rated HIGH. It can be exploited remotely over the network. Some level of privileges is required for exploitation.
Technical Description
kustomize-controller is a Kubernetes operator, specialized in running continuous delivery pipelines for infrastructure and workloads defined with Kubernetes manifests and assembled with Kustomize. Users that can create Kubernetes Secrets, Service Accounts and Flux Kustomization objects, could execute commands inside the kustomize-controller container by embedding a shell script in a Kubernetes Secret. This can be used to run `kubectl` commands under the Service Account of kustomize-controller, thus allowing an authenticated Kubernetes user to gain cluster admin privileges. In affected versions multitenant environments where non-admin users have permissions to create Flux Kustomization objects are affected by this issue. This vulnerability was fixed in kustomize-controller v0.15.0 (included in flux2 v0.18.0) released on 2021-10-08. Starting with v0.15, the kustomize-controller no longer executes shell commands on the container OS and the `kubectl` binary has been removed from the contai
Remediation
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from fluxcd. Update kustomize-controller to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
Affected Products
| Vendor | Product | Versions | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| fluxcd | kustomize-controller | >= 0, < 0.15.0 | Affected |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2021-41254?
CVE-2021-41254 is a high-severity vulnerability affecting fluxcd kustomize-controller. It was published on November 12, 2021 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.8 (HIGH).
How severe is CVE-2021-41254?
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.8, rated HIGH. It can be exploited remotely over the network. Some level of privileges is required for exploitation.
How do I fix or remediate CVE-2021-41254?
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from fluxcd. Update kustomize-controller to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
How can CyberStrike help with CVE-2021-41254?
CyberStrike's AI-powered security agents can automatically detect CVE-2021-41254 across your infrastructure using autonomous pentesting, DAST scanning, and HackBrowser. The platform continuously monitors for known vulnerabilities and provides actionable remediation guidance prioritized by real-world exploitability.
How CyberStrike Helps
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