CVE-2019-11244 | kubectl creates world-writeable cached schema files

In Kubernetes v1.8.x-v1.14.x, schema info is cached by kubectl in the location specified by --cache-dir (defaulting to $HOME/.kube/http-cache), written with world-writeable permissions (rw-rw-rw-). If --cache-dir is specified and pointed at a different location accessible to other users/groups, the written files may be modified by other users/groups and disrupt the kubectl invocation.

Published: 2019-04-22 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2019-11244 is rated Low Risk (31.2/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.08%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2019-11244

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2024-04-15 0.05% 0.08% +0.03%
2 2023-03-07 1.03% 0.05% -0.99%
3 2022-04-01 1.03%

Full EPSS history (6 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2019-11244

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.0 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
1.3 3.6 [email protected]
3.3 3.0 LOW
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
0.8 2.5 [email protected]
1.9 2.0 LOW
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
3.4 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2019-11244

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2019-11244

OS Trackers for CVE-2019-11244

vendor priority summary link
debian unimportant CVE-2019-11244 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (kubernetes), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2019-11244
redhat low https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2019-11244
suse medium https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2019-11244/

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2019-11244

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
kubernetes kubernetes >= 1.8.0, <= 1.14.1 cpe:2.3:a:kubernetes:kubernetes:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp trident cpe:2.3:a:netapp:trident:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat openshift_container_platform 3.11 cpe:2.3:a:redhat:openshift_container_platform:3.11:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat openshift_container_platform 4.1 cpe:2.3:a:redhat:openshift_container_platform:4.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2019-11244

cvelogic Threat Intelligence