CVE-2020-11091 | Weave Net clusters susceptible to MitM attacks via IPv6 rogue router advertisements

In Weave Net before version 2.6.3, an attacker able to run a process as root in a container is able to respond to DNS requests from the host and thereby insert themselves as a fake service. In a cluster with an IPv4 internal network, if IPv6 is not totally disabled on the host (via ipv6.disable=1 on the kernel cmdline), it will be either unconfigured or configured on some interfaces, but it's pretty likely that ipv6 forwarding is disabled, ie /proc/sys/net/ipv6/conf//forwarding == 0. Also by default, /proc/sys/net/ipv6/conf//accept_ra == 1. The combination of these 2 sysctls means that the host accepts router advertisements and configure the IPv6 stack using them. By sending rogue router advertisements, an attacker can reconfigure the host to redirect part or all of the IPv6 traffic of the host to the attacker controlled container. Even if there was no IPv6 traffic before, if the DNS returns A (IPv4) and AAAA (IPv6) records, many HTTP libraries will try to connect via IPv6 first then fallback to IPv4, giving an opportunity to the attacker to respond. If by chance you also have on the host a vulnerability like last year's RCE in apt (CVE-2019-3462), you can now escalate to the host. Weave Net version 2.6.3 disables the accept_ra option on the veth devices that it creates.

Published: 2020-06-03 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2020-11091 is rated Low Risk (35.7/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.17%). 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-2020-11091

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 2025-03-17 0.05% 0.17% +0.12%
2 2023-03-07 0.89% 0.05% -0.83%
3 2022-04-01 — 0.89% —

Full EPSS history (6 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-11091

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.8 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N 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:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:H)
They need powerful rights—admin, root, or similar—before this pays off.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
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 4.0 [email protected]
5.8 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N 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:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:H)
They need powerful rights—admin, root, or similar—before this pays off.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
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 4.0 [email protected]
3.5 2.0 LOW
AV:N/AC:M/Au:S/C:N/I:P/A:N Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:S)
A single authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
 6.8 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-11091

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2020-11091

GHSA-59qg-grp7-5r73 · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: go — Weave Net clusters susceptible to MitM attacks via IPv6 rogue router advertisements

OS Trackers for CVE-2020-11091

vendor priority summary link
ubuntu medium CVE-2020-11091 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (golang-github-weaveworks-mesh-dev), 6 status rows across 6 suites (bionic, eoan, focal, trusty, upstream, xenial): DNE 5, needs-triage 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2020-11091

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-11091

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
weave weave_net < 2.6.3 cpe:2.3:a:weave:weave_net:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2020-11091

cvelogic Threat Intelligence