CVE-2023-23939 LOW

CVE-2023-23939: Azure/setup-kubectl: Escalation of privilege vulnerability for v3 and lower

Vendor Azure
Product setup-kubectl
Weakness CWE-732
Published March 6, 2023
Last update February 25, 2025

CVSS base score

3.9/10
Attack vector Local
Attack complexity High
Privileges required High
User interaction None
Confidentiality Low
Integrity Low

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L

What the vulnerability does

01Description

Azure/setup-kubectl is a GitHub Action for installing Kubectl. This vulnerability only impacts versions before version 3. An insecure temporary creation of a file allows other actors on the Actions runner to replace the Kubectl binary created by this action because it is world writable. This Kubectl tool installer runs `fs.chmodSync(kubectlPath, 777)` to set permissions on the Kubectl binary, however, this allows any local user to replace the Kubectl binary. This allows privilege escalation to the user that can also run kubectl, most likely root. This attack is only possible if an attacker somehow breached the GitHub actions runner or if a user is utilizing an Action that maliciously executes this attack. This has been fixed and released in all versions `v3` and later. 775 permissions are used instead. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this issue.

Key dates

02Disclosure timeline

March 6, 2023 CVE published
February 25, 2025 Record updated