Summary
Karmada PULL Mode Cluster Privilege Escalation
Workarounds
Is there a way for users to fix or remediate the vulnerability without upgrading?
Restricts the access permissions of pull mode member clusters to control plane resources according to Karmada Component Permissions Docs.
References
Are there any links users can visit to find out more?
- Enhancements made from the Karmada community: https://github.com/karmada-io/karmada/pull/5793
- Karmada Component Permissions: https://karmada.io/docs/administrator/security/component-permission
Impact
What kind of vulnerability is it? Who is impacted?
The PULL mode clusters registered with the karmadactl register command have excessive privileges to access control plane resources. By abusing these permissions, an attacker able to authenticate as the karmada-agent to a karmada cluster would be able to obtain administrative privileges over the entire federation system including all registered member clusters.
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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Has the problem been patched? What versions should users upgrade to?
Since Karmada v1.12.0, command karmadactl register restricts the access permissions of pull mode member clusters to control plane resources. This way, an attacker able to authenticate as the karmada-agent cannot control other member clusters in Karmada.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2024-56513? CVE-2024-56513 is a high-severity security vulnerability in github.com/karmada-io/karmada (go), affecting versions < 1.12.0. It is fixed in 1.12.0.
- Which versions of github.com/karmada-io/karmada are affected by CVE-2024-56513? github.com/karmada-io/karmada (go) versions < 1.12.0 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2024-56513? Yes. CVE-2024-56513 is fixed in 1.12.0. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2024-56513 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2024-56513 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-2024-56513 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-2024-56513? Upgrade
github.com/karmada-io/karmadato 1.12.0 or later.