Summary
Code Injection in CRI-O
Workarounds
- Users can set manage_ns_lifecycle to false, which causes the sysctls to be configured by the OCI runtime, which typically filter these cases. This option is available in 1.20 and 1.19. Newer versions don't have this option.
- An admission webhook could be created to deny pods that specify a
+in the sysctl value of a pod. - A PodSecurityPolicy [deprecated] could be created, specifying all sysctls as forbidden like so:
apiVersion: policy/v1beta1
kind: PodSecurityPolicy
metadata:
name: sysctl-psp
spec:
forbiddenSysctls:
- "*"
However, this option will not work if any sysctls are required by any pods in the cluster.
Credits
Credit for finding this vulnerability goes to John Walker and Manoj Ahuje of Crowdstrike. The CRI-O community deeply thanks them for the report.
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Open an issue in the CRI-O repo
- To make a report, email your vulnerability to the private
[email protected] list
with the security details and the details expected for all CRI-O bug
reports.
Impact
A flaw introduced in CRI-O version 1.19 which an attacker can use to bypass the safeguards and set arbitrary kernel parameters on the host. As a result, anyone with rights to deploy a pod on a Kubernetes cluster that uses the CRI-O runtime can abuse the kernel.core_pattern kernel parameter to achieve container escape and arbitrary code execution as root on any node in the cluster.
Untrusted input is evaluated as executable code within the application's runtime environment. Typical impact: arbitrary code execution within the application's privilege context.
CVE-2022-0811 has a CVSS score of 8.8 (High). The vector is network-reachable, low privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (1.19.6, 1.20.7, 1.21.6, 1.22.3, 1.23.2); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
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See it in your environmentNew to Kodem? Get a demo →Remediation advice
The patches will be present in 1.19.6, 1.20.7, 1.21.6, 1.22.3, 1.23.2, 1.24.0
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2022-0811? CVE-2022-0811 is a high-severity code injection vulnerability in github.com/cri-o/cri-o (go), affecting versions >= 1.19.0, < 1.19.6. It is fixed in 1.19.6, 1.20.7, 1.21.6, 1.22.3, 1.23.2. Untrusted input is evaluated as executable code within the application's runtime environment.
- How severe is CVE-2022-0811? CVE-2022-0811 has a CVSS score of 8.8 (High). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
- Which versions of github.com/cri-o/cri-o are affected by CVE-2022-0811? github.com/cri-o/cri-o (go) versions >= 1.19.0, < 1.19.6 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2022-0811? Yes. CVE-2022-0811 is fixed in 1.19.6, 1.20.7, 1.21.6, 1.22.3, 1.23.2. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2022-0811 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2022-0811 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2022-0811 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
- How do I fix CVE-2022-0811?
- Upgrade
github.com/cri-o/cri-oto 1.19.6 or later - Upgrade
github.com/cri-o/cri-oto 1.20.7 or later - Upgrade
github.com/cri-o/cri-oto 1.21.6 or later - Upgrade
github.com/cri-o/cri-oto 1.22.3 or later - Upgrade
github.com/cri-o/cri-oto 1.23.2 or later
- Upgrade