Skip to content
Fencer Intel
medium 4.8

CVE-2019-11249 json

kubectl cp allows symlink directory traversal

published 7y ago modified 4mo ago also EUVD-2019-2944

cvss
4.8
version 3.0, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
3.7%
EPSS 3.7% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 89%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

The kubectl cp command allows copying files between containers and the user machine. To copy files from a container, Kubernetes runs tar inside the container to create a tar archive, copies it over the network, and kubectl unpacks it on the user’s machine. If the tar binary in the container is malicious, it could run any code and output unexpected, malicious results. An attacker could use this to write files to any path on the user’s machine when kubectl cp is called, limited only by the system permissions of the local user. Kubernetes affected versions include versions prior to 1.13.9, versions prior to 1.14.5, versions prior to 1.15.2, and versions 1.1, 1.2, 1.4, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 1.9, 1.10, 1.11, 1.12.

Patch / fix

  • kubernetes kubernetes 1.13.9, 1.14.5, 1.15.2
  • atomic-openshift openshift 3.10 3.10.181-1.git.0.3ab4b3d.el7
  • atomic-openshift-pod openshift 3.10 3.10.181-1.git.0.3ab4b3d.el7
  • atomic-openshift-node openshift 3.10 3.10.181-1.git.0.3ab4b3d.el7
  • atomic-openshift-tests openshift 3.10 3.10.181-1.git.0.3ab4b3d.el7
  • atomic-openshift-master openshift 3.10 3.10.181-1.git.0.3ab4b3d.el7
  • atomic-openshift-clients openshift 3.10 3.10.181-1.git.0.3ab4b3d.el7
  • atomic-openshift-sdn-ovs openshift 3.10 3.10.181-1.git.0.3ab4b3d.el7
  • atomic-openshift-excluder openshift 3.10 3.10.181-1.git.0.3ab4b3d.el7

red hat advisories RHSA-2019:3239RHSA-2019:3811RHBA-2019:2794RHBA-2019:2816

  • k3s Alpine 3.24, Alpine 3.23, Alpine 3.22 +9 more 0.8.0-r0

alpine advisories ALPINE-CVE-2019-11249

Alpine secdb © Alpine Linux, from https://secdb.alpinelinux.org via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

Is CVE-2019-11249 in your stack? Fencer shows which of your repositories are affected as soon as an advisory lands, and opens the fix as a pull request.

Check with Fencer

Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2019-11249 updated cvss 4.8

kubernetes: Incomplete fixes for CVE-2019-1002101 and CVE-2019-11246, kubectl cp potential directory traversal

  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 3.9 atomic-openshift 3.9.102-1.git.0.6411f52.el7, atomic-openshift-pod 3.9.102-1.git.0.6411f52.el7, atomic-openshift-node 3.9.102-1.git.0.6411f52.el7, atomic-openshift-tests 3.9.102-1.git.0.6411f52.el7, atomic-openshift-master 3.9.102-1.git.0.6411f52.el7, atomic-openshift-clients 3.9.102-1.git.0.6411f52.el7, +8 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2019:3811
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 3.10 atomic-openshift 3.10.181-1.git.0.3ab4b3d.el7, atomic-openshift-pod 3.10.181-1.git.0.3ab4b3d.el7, atomic-openshift-node 3.10.181-1.git.0.3ab4b3d.el7, atomic-openshift-tests 3.10.181-1.git.0.3ab4b3d.el7, atomic-openshift-master 3.10.181-1.git.0.3ab4b3d.el7, atomic-openshift-clients 3.10.181-1.git.0.3ab4b3d.el7, +7 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2019:3239
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 3.11 ansible-service-broker 1.3.23-2.el7, automation-broker-apb-role 1.3.23-2.el7, ansible-service-broker-selinux 1.3.23-2.el7, ansible-service-broker-container-scripts 1.3.23-2.el7
    fixed: vendor fix RHBA-2019:2816
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.1 jenkins-2-plugins 4.1.1567784275-1.el7, openshift 4.1.16-201909090609.git.0.2f97059.el7, openshift 4.1.16-201909090609.git.0.2f97059.el8, openshift-clients 4.1.16-201909090609.git.0.2f97059.el7, openshift-clients 4.1.16-201909090609.git.0.2f97059.el8, openshift-ansible 4.1.16-201909090609.git.162.a0800db.el7, +6 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHBA-2019:2794
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 3.11 kibana 5.6.16-2.el7, jenkins 2.176.3.1568230481-1.el7, python-elasticsearch 5.4.0-2.el7, jenkins-2-plugins 3.11.1567698330-1.el7, prometheus 3.11.146-1.git.1.0e18774.el7, atomic-openshift 3.11.146-1.git.0.4aab273.el7, +29 more Red Hat Storage 3 heketi, heketi-client, python-heketi
    not affected: vulnerable code not present

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

Exploit prediction

3.75% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 89% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-09).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.0 4.8 CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
NVD 3.1 6.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
NVD 2.0 5.8 AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:P

Affected products

  • Kubernetes Kubernetes

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-61 UNIX Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following
  • CWE-22 Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory
Technology feeds

References

Sources

Fencer Intel keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.