CVE-2019-11253 | Kubernetes API Server JSON/YAML parsing vulnerable to resource exhaustion attack

Exp

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.

Published: 2019-10-17 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2019-11253 is rated High Exploit Risk (74.2/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 25.94%, 98th percentile). 1 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

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

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2019-11253

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2019-11253

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 2026-06-15 82.79% 25.94% -56.85%
2 2026-06-10 84.51% 82.79% -1.72%
3 2026-05-29 — 84.51% —

Full EPSS history (67 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2019-11253

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
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:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
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:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 3.6 [email protected]
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
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:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
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:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 3.6 [email protected]
5.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 10.0 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2019-11253

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2019-11253

GHSA-pmqp-h87c-mr78 · Severity: high · Ecosystem: go — XML Entity Expansion and Improper Input Validation in Kubernetes API server

OS Trackers for CVE-2019-11253

vendor priority summary link
alpine — CVE-2019-11253: 1 source package rows (containerd); 7 state rows across 7 repos (3.17-community, 3.18-community, 3.19-community, 3.20-community, 3.21-community, 3.22-community, edge-community); fixed 7, open 0. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2019-11253
debian not yet assigned CVE-2019-11253 not yet assigned 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-2019-11253
redhat high — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2019-11253
suse medium — https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2019-11253/
ubuntu medium CVE-2019-11253 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (kubernetes), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bionic, disco, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 3, ignored 1, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2019-11253

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2019-11253

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
kubernetes kubernetes >= 1.1.0, <= 1.12.10 cpe:2.3:a:kubernetes:kubernetes:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
kubernetes kubernetes >= 1.13.0, < 1.13.12 cpe:2.3:a:kubernetes:kubernetes:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
kubernetes kubernetes >= 1.14.0, < 1.14.8 cpe:2.3:a:kubernetes:kubernetes:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
kubernetes kubernetes >= 1.15.0, < 1.15.5 cpe:2.3:a:kubernetes:kubernetes:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
kubernetes kubernetes >= 1.16.0, < 1.16.2 cpe:2.3:a:kubernetes:kubernetes:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat openshift_container_platform 3.9 cpe:2.3:a:redhat:openshift_container_platform:3.9:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat openshift_container_platform 3.10 cpe:2.3:a:redhat:openshift_container_platform:3.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat openshift_container_platform 3.11 cpe:2.3:a:redhat:openshift_container_platform:3.11:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2019-11253

cvelogic Threat Intelligence