CVE-2023-23939 json
Azure/setup-kubectl: Escalation of privilege vulnerability for v3 and lower
published 2023-03-06 3 y ago modified 2026-09-10 1 mo ago also EUVD-2023-1065 , GHSA-p756-rfxh-x63h
- cvss
- 3.9
- version 3.1, CNA
- cisa kev
- Not listed
- not in CISA's catalog
- epss
- 0.4%
- EPSS 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 30%
- public exploits
- 0
- none known
Summary
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.
Patch / fix
- github-actions Azure/setup-kubectl 3
- microsoft azure_setup_kubectl 3.0
CISA SSVC
- Exploitation
- none
- Automatable
- no
- Technical impact
- partial
- Assessed
- 20 mo ago
Exploit prediction
0.36% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 30% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).
CVSS scores
| assigned by | version | score | vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| CNA | 3.1 | 3.9 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L |
| GitHub | 3.1 | 3.0 | CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N |
| NVD | 3.1 | 7.0 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
Affected packages
| ecosystem | package | affected | fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| github-actions | Azure/setup-kubectl | <3 |
3 |
Affected products
- Azure setup-kubectl
Classification
- Weakness
-
- CWE-732 Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource
References
Sources
- CVE List CVE-2023-23939
- GitHub Advisory GHSA-p756-rfxh-x63h
- NVD CVE-2023-23939
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