Security Bulletin: IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service is affected by a containerd security vulnerability (CVE-2021-41190)

Summary

IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service is affected by a security vulnerability found in containerd that allows clients to misinterpret manifest and layer fields. If a Content-Type header changed between two pulls of the same digest, a client may interpret the resulting content differently. (CVE-2021-41190)

Vulnerability Details

CVEID: CVE-2021-41190
Description: Open Container Initiative Distribution Specification could allow a remote authenticated attacker to bypass security restrictions, caused by a flaw when a Content-Type header changed between two pulls of the same digest. By sending a specially-crafted request, an attacker could exploit this vulnerability to cause a client to interpret the resulting content differently.
CVSS Base Score: 3.0
CVSS Temporal Score: <https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/213802&gt; for more information
CVSS Vector: (CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N)

Affected Products and Versions

IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service 1.22.0-1.22.3_1530
IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service 1.21.0-1.21.6_1540
IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service 1.20.0-1.20.12_1562
IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service 1.19.0-1.19.16_1569
IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service 1.5-1.18

Remediation/Fixes

Updates for IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service cluster worker nodes at versions 1.19 or later are available that fix this vulnerability. Customers must update worker nodes created before the fix was available to address the vulnerability. See updating worker nodes for details on updating worker nodes. To verify your cluster worker nodes have been updated, use the following IBM Cloud CLI command to confirm the currently running versions:

ibmcloud ks workers --cluster <cluster name or ID>

If the versions are at one of the following patch levels or later, the cluster worker nodes have the fix:

1.22.4_1532
1.21.7_1542
1.20.13_1564
1.19.16_1571

Customers running IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service clusters at version 1.18 must upgrade to version 1.19. Please review the documentation before starting an upgrade since additional actions may be required.

Customers running IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service clusters at version 1.17 or earlier must create a new cluster and deploy their apps to the new cluster.

IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service versions 1.18 and earlier are no longer supported, and version 1.19 is deprecated. See the IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service version information and update actions documentation for more information about Kubernetes versions and version support policies.

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References

Complete CVSS v3 Guide
On-line Calculator v3

Off

Clarify mediaType handling
Clarify Content-Type handling
Containerd Security Announcement for CVE-2021-41190

Related Information

IBM Secure Engineering Web Portal
IBM Product Security Incident Response Blog

*The CVSS Environment Score is customer environment specific and will ultimately impact the Overall CVSS Score. Customers can evaluate the impact of this vulnerability in their environments by accessing the links in the Reference section of this Security Bulletin.

Disclaimer

Review the IBM security bulletin disclaimer and definitions regarding your responsibilities for assessing potential impact of security vulnerabilities to your environment.

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