Security Resilience

CVE-2023-3676

Kubernetes ≤ 1.24.17

Public PoC
Published
31 October 2023
Modified
13 February 2025
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.13 96th percentile
Risk Priority 83 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2023-3676 is a high-severity Improper Input Validation (CWE-20) vulnerability in Kubernetes Kubernetes. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, ranked in the top 4% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

Kubernetes is affected by CVE-2023-3676, a privilege-escalation flaw that allows a user able to create pods on Windows nodes to obtain administrative privileges on those nodes. The vulnerability is present only in Kubernetes clusters that include Windows nodes and is classified under CWE-20 for improper input validation. It received a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.8 reflecting network attack vector, low complexity, and low privileges required.

An authenticated user with pod-creation rights on a Windows node can leverage the issue to escalate to full administrative control of the node. The attack requires no user interaction and can be performed remotely within the cluster, enabling the attacker to compromise the host operating system and any workloads running on it.

Public advisories published by the Kubernetes project and vendors such as NetApp point to patches and configuration updates that address the flaw; links to the Kubernetes security-announce group and associated GitHub issues contain the remediation details. The EPSS score reached a peak of 0.4451 with a current value of 0.4074, indicating ongoing exploitation interest after disclosure.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A security issue was discovered in Kubernetes where a user that can create pods on Windows nodes may be able to escalate to admin privileges on those nodes. Kubernetes clusters are only affected if they include Windows nodes.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-3955Same product: Kubernetes Kubernetes
CVE-2023-5528Same product: Kubernetes Kubernetes
CVE-2023-2727Same product: Kubernetes Kubernetes
CVE-2023-2728Same product: Kubernetes Kubernetes
CVE-2024-20670Same product: Microsoft Windows
CVE-2024-7977Same product: Microsoft Windows
CVE-2026-23571Same product: Microsoft Windows
CVE-2026-13875Same product: Microsoft Windows
CVE-2023-41746Same product: Microsoft Windows
CVE-2026-11047Same product: Microsoft Windows

Affected Assets

kubernetes
kubernetes
≤ 1.24.17 · 1.25.0 — 1.25.13 · 1.26.0 — 1.26.8

Mitigating Controls

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

addresses: CWE-20

Security testing and developer training directly verify and enforce proper input validation, reducing exploitability of injection and malformed-data weaknesses.

addresses: CWE-20

Security testing and evaluation at multiple SDLC stages directly detects missing or flawed input validation, with the required remediation process ensuring fixes are applied.

addresses: CWE-20

Directly implements checks on information inputs to reject invalid data before processing.

addresses: CWE-20

Spam protection mechanisms perform filtering and detection on inbound/outbound messages, directly compensating for missing or weak input validation of unsolicited content.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

blocks

A.8.25 mandates security requirements, secure coding guidelines, checkpoints, testing (incl. code scans) and developer training in the SDLC, which reaches a slice of input validation defects but leaves the majority (incomplete enforcement, second-order inputs, parser differentials, post-validation canonicalization) unaddressed as in the SA-3 and A.8.28 anchors.

blocks

Mandating input controls that include integrity checks and input validation ensures that untrusted data is examined before use, blocking the root cause of many injection and malformed-data weaknesses.

blocks

Security-by-design principles explicitly call for data validation and sanitization at every layer, reducing the chance that malformed or malicious input will be processed without scrutiny.

prevents

Requiring language-specific secure coding standards, peer review, SAST and documented mitigation of common programming errors forces validation of all inputs before they are trusted.

finds

Testing against a defined set of requirements and using code review plus vulnerability scanning forces validation of inputs and handling of unanticipated conditions, reducing the chance that malformed data will be accepted.

Hardening callouts derived

DISA STIG baselines are authored against specific weaknesses. Where this CVE cites a broad weakness class, the mapping is not asserted at that abstraction (owner ruling, 2026-09-25: grade only at Base and below), so no rule is shown here rather than a rule shown against the wrong grain.

  • No fine-grained STIG row for CWE-20, a class-level weakness, and none of its children carries one either.

References