What is CVE-2023-28114?

CVE-2023-28114 is a medium-severity security vulnerability in github.com/cilium/cilium-cli (go), affecting versions < 0.13.2. It is fixed in 0.13.2.

How severe is CVE-2023-28114?

CVE-2023-28114 has a CVSS score of 4.8 (Medium). 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/cilium/cilium-cli are affected by CVE-2023-28114?

github.com/cilium/cilium-cli (go) versions < 0.13.2 is affected.

Is there a fix for CVE-2023-28114?

Yes. CVE-2023-28114 is fixed in 0.13.2. Upgrade to this version or later.

Is CVE-2023-28114 exploitable, and should I be worried?

Whether CVE-2023-28114 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.

What actually determines whether CVE-2023-28114 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-2023-28114?

Upgrade github.com/cilium/cilium-cli to 0.13.2 or later.

CVE-2023-28114 in github.com/cilium/cilium-cli

Q: How severe is CVE-2023-28114?

CVE-2023-28114 has a CVSS score of 4.8 (Medium). 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.

Q: Which versions of github.com/cilium/cilium-cli are affected by CVE-2023-28114?

github.com/cilium/cilium-cli (go) versions < 0.13.2 is affected.

Q: Is there a fix for CVE-2023-28114?

Yes. CVE-2023-28114 is fixed in 0.13.2. Upgrade to this version or later.

Q: Is CVE-2023-28114 exploitable, and should I be worried?

Whether CVE-2023-28114 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.

Q: What actually determines whether CVE-2023-28114 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.

Q: How do I fix CVE-2023-28114?

Upgrade github.com/cilium/cilium-cli to 0.13.2 or later.

Summary

cilium-cli disables etcd authorization for clustermesh clusters

Workarounds

Use Cilium's Helm charts to create your cluster instead.

Acknowledgements

The Cilium community has worked together with members of Isovalent to prepare these mitigations. Special thanks to Marco Iorio for investigating and fixing the issue.

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory, please reach out on Slack.

As usual, if you think you found a related vulnerability, we strongly encourage you to report security vulnerabilities to our private security mailing list: [email protected] - first, before disclosing them in any public forums. This is a private mailing list where only members of the Cilium internal security team are subscribed to, and is treated as top priority.

Impact

cilium-cli, when used to configure cluster mesh functionality, can remove the enforcement of user permissions on the etcd store used to mirror local cluster information to remote clusters.

Due to an incorrect mount point specification, the settings specified by the initContainer that configures etcd users and their permissions are overwritten when using cilium-cli to configure a cluster mesh. An attacker who has already gained access to a valid key and certificate for an etcd cluster compromised in this manner could then modify state in that etcd cluster.

CVE-2023-28114 has a CVSS score of 4.8 (Medium). The vector is reachable from an adjacent network, high 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 (0.13.2); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Affected versions

github.com/cilium/cilium-cli (< 0.13.2)

Security releases

github.com/cilium/cilium-cli → 0.13.2 (go)

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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Remediation advice

This issue is patched in cilium-cli 0.13.2

All previous versions of cilium-cli are affected. Users who have set up cluster meshes using the Cilium Helm chart are not affected.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2023-28114? CVE-2023-28114 is a medium-severity security vulnerability in github.com/cilium/cilium-cli (go), affecting versions < 0.13.2. It is fixed in 0.13.2.
How severe is CVE-2023-28114? CVE-2023-28114 has a CVSS score of 4.8 (Medium). 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/cilium/cilium-cli are affected by CVE-2023-28114? github.com/cilium/cilium-cli (go) versions < 0.13.2 is affected.
Is there a fix for CVE-2023-28114? Yes. CVE-2023-28114 is fixed in 0.13.2. Upgrade to this version or later.
Is CVE-2023-28114 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2023-28114 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-2023-28114 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-2023-28114? Upgrade github.com/cilium/cilium-cli to 0.13.2 or later.