CVE-2023-26484 | On a compromised KubeVirt node, the virt-handler service account can be used to modify all node specs

KubeVirt is a virtual machine management add-on for Kubernetes. In versions 0.59.0 and prior, if a malicious user has taken over a Kubernetes node where virt-handler (the KubeVirt node-daemon) is running, the virt-handler service account can be used to modify all node specs. This can be misused to lure-in system-level-privileged components which can, for instance, read all secrets on the cluster, or can exec into pods on other nodes. This way, a compromised node can be used to elevate privileges beyond the node until potentially having full privileged access to the whole cluster. The simplest way to exploit this, once a user could compromise a specific node, is to set with the virt-handler service account all other nodes to unschedulable and simply wait until system-critical components with high privileges appear on its node. No patches are available as of time of publication. As a workaround, gatekeeper users can add a webhook which will block the `virt-handler` service account to modify the spec of a node.

Published: 2023-03-15 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2023-26484 is rated Moderate Risk (48.7/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.61%). Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

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-2023-26484

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 0.24% 0.61% +0.37%
2 2026-04-27 0.27% 0.24% -0.03%
3 2025-11-21 — 0.27% —

Full EPSS history (10 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-26484

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
8.2 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/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:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big 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.
 1.8 5.8 [email protected]
8.2 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/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:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big 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.
 1.8 5.8 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-26484

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2023-26484

GHSA-cp96-jpmq-xrr2 · Severity: high · Ecosystem: go — On a compromised node, the virt-handler service account can be used to modify all node specs

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-26484

vendor priority summary link
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-26484
suse high CVE-2023-26484 severity important: SUSE including 36 source package names (kubevirt, kubevirt-container-disk-0.54.0-150400.3.13.1, …), 53 product×package rows across 15 product lines (SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3, SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.4, … (15 product lines)): Fixed 47, Known Not Affected 6. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-26484/

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-26484

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
kubevirt kubevirt <= 0.59.0 cpe:2.3:a:kubevirt:kubevirt:*:*:*:*:*:kubernetes:*:*

References for CVE-2023-26484

cvelogic Threat Intelligence