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Fencer Intel
high 7.5

CVE-2019-11253 in the critical feed json

Kubernetes API Server JSON/YAML parsing vulnerable to resource exhaustion attack

published 7y ago modified last mo. also GHSA-pmqp-h87c-mr78 , GO-2022-0703 , EUVD-2021-1151

cvss
7.5
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
25.9%
EPSS 25.9% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 97%
public exploits
0
none known, plus a Nuclei check

Summary

Improper input validation in the Kubernetes API server in versions v1.0-1.12 and versions prior to v1.13.12, v1.14.8, v1.15.5, and v1.16.2 allows authorized users to send malicious YAML or JSON payloads, causing the API server to consume excessive CPU or memory, potentially crashing and becoming unavailable. Prior to v1.14.0, default RBAC policy authorized anonymous users to submit requests that could trigger this vulnerability. Clusters upgraded from a version prior to v1.14.0 keep the more permissive policy by default for backwards compatibility.

Patch / fix

  • go k8s.io/kubernetes 1.13.12, 1.14.8, 1.15.5, 1.16.2
  • kubernetes kubernetes 1.13.12, 1.14.8, 1.15.5, 1.16.2
  • kubernetes Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 1.17.4-1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2019-11253

  • servicemesh-grafana service mesh 1.0 6.2.2-38.el8
  • servicemesh-grafana-prometheus service mesh 1.0 6.2.2-38.el8
  • servicemesh-grafana service mesh 1.1 6.4.3-11.el8
  • servicemesh-grafana-prometheus service mesh 1.1 6.4.3-11.el8
  • 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

red hat advisories RHSA-2020:2861RHSA-2020:2796RHSA-2019:3239RHSA-2020:2795RHSA-2020:2863RHSA-2020:2799

  • govulncheck-vulndb openSUSE Tumbleweed 0.0.20250807T150727-1.1

opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2025:15424-1

  • containerd Alpine 3.24, Alpine 3.23, Alpine 3.22 +11 more 1.3.3-r0

alpine advisories ALPINE-CVE-2019-11253

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

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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-2019-11253 updated cvss 7.5

kubernetes: YAML parsing vulnerable to "Billion Laughs" attack, allowing for remote denial of service

  • Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 1 serivicemesh-grafana
    affected: no fix available
  • Red Hat OpenStack Platform 16.2 osp-director-provisioner-container, rhosp-rhel8-tech-preview/osp-director-downloader
    affected: no fix available, no fix planned “Will not fix”
  • Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 1.0 servicemesh 1.0.2-3.el8, servicemesh-cni 1.0.2-3.el8, servicemesh-cni 1.0.11-1.el8, servicemesh-mixc 1.0.2-3.el8, servicemesh-mixs 1.0.2-3.el8, servicemesh-proxy 1.0.2-3.el8, +13 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHEA-2019:3809
  • Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 1.1 servicemesh-cni 1.1.4-2.el8, servicemesh-grafana 6.4.3-11.el8, servicemesh-operator 1.1.4-3.el8, servicemesh-grafana-prometheus 6.4.3-11.el8
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2020:2799
  • 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 atomic-openshift 3.11.154-1.git.0.7a097ad.el7, atomic-openshift-pod 3.11.154-1.git.0.7a097ad.el7, atomic-openshift-node 3.11.154-1.git.0.7a097ad.el7, atomic-openshift-tests 3.11.154-1.git.0.7a097ad.el7, atomic-openshift-master 3.11.154-1.git.0.7a097ad.el7, atomic-openshift-clients 3.11.154-1.git.0.7a097ad.el7, +7 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2019:3905
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.1 openshift 4.1.20-201910101746.git.0.a80aad5.el7, openshift 4.1.20-201910101746.git.0.a80aad5.el8, openshift-clients 4.1.20-201910101746.git.0.a80aad5.el7, openshift-clients 4.1.20-201910101746.git.0.a80aad5.el8, openshift-hyperkube 4.1.20-201910101746.git.0.a80aad5.el7, openshift-hyperkube 4.1.20-201910101746.git.0.a80aad5.el8, +2 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2019:3132
show 3 more
  • Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 1.0 kiali v1.0.7.redhat1-1.el7, jaeger v1.13.1.redhat5-1.el7, jaeger-operator v1.13.1.redhat8-1.el7
    fixed: vendor fix RHEA-2019:3809
  • Red Hat OpenStack Platform 16.2 rhosp-rhel8-tech-preview/osp-director-operator 1.2.3-2
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2022:2183
  • Red Hat OpenStack Platform 16.2 rhosp-rhel8-tech-preview/osp-director-downloader 1.2.3-2, rhosp-rhel8-tech-preview/osp-director-operator-bundle 1.2.3-3 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

25.94% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 97% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-09).

Exploits and checks

  • Nuclei template Kubernetes API Server - YAML Parsing DoS (Billion Laughs) nuclei detection template
  • github.com https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/issues/83253 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 7.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
NVD 3.1 7.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
NVD 2.0 5.0 AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P
GitHub 3.1 7.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Affected packages

ecosystem package affected fixed in
go k8s.io/kubernetes
>=1.0.0, <1.13.12
>=1.14.0, <1.14.8
>=1.15.0, <1.15.5
>=1.16.0, <1.16.2
1.13.12
1.14.8
1.15.5
1.16.2

Affected products

  • Kubernetes Kubernetes

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-20 Improper Input Validation
  • CWE-776 Improper Restriction of Recursive Entity References in DTDs
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.