---
id: CVE-2023-27593
aliases:
  - GHSA-4hc4-pgfx-3mrx
  - BIT-cilium-2023-27593
  - BIT-cilium-operator-2023-27593
  - BIT-cilium-proxy-2023-27593
  - BIT-hubble-2023-27593
  - BIT-hubble-relay-2023-27593
  - BIT-hubble-ui-2023-27593
  - BIT-hubble-ui-backend-2023-27593
title: cilium-agent container can access the host via `hostPath` mount
summary: cilium-agent container can access the host via `hostPath` mount
severity: medium
cvss: 4.4
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'
vendor: cilium
product: github.com/cilium/cilium
ecosystem: go
affected:
  - github.com/cilium/cilium < 1.11.15
  - 'github.com/cilium/cilium >= 1.12.0, < 1.12.8'
  - 'github.com/cilium/cilium >= 1.13.0, < 1.13.1'
patched:
  - github.com/cilium/cilium 1.11.15
  - github.com/cilium/cilium 1.12.8
  - github.com/cilium/cilium 1.13.1
published: '2023-03-17'
updated: '2026-09-10'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-10T03:49:52.397237390Z'
source: OSV
sourceUrl: 'https://osv.dev/vulnerability/GHSA-4hc4-pgfx-3mrx'
references:
  - url: 'https://github.com/cilium/cilium/security/advisories/GHSA-4hc4-pgfx-3mrx'
  - url: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-27593'
  - url: 'https://github.com/cilium/cilium/pull/24075'
  - url: 'https://github.com/cilium/cilium'
  - url: 'https://github.com/cilium/cilium/releases/tag/v1.11.15'
  - url: 'https://github.com/cilium/cilium/releases/tag/v1.12.8'
  - url: 'https://github.com/cilium/cilium/releases/tag/v1.13.1'
  - url: 'https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/access-authn-authz/rbac'
tags:
  - osv
  - go
epss: 0.00217
epssPercentile: 0.12369
ingestedAt: '2026-09-12T03:13:01.753Z'
---

## Overview

### Impact

An attacker with access to a Cilium agent pod can write to `/opt/cni/bin` due to a `hostPath` mount of that directory in the agent pod. By replacing the CNI binary with their own malicious binary and waiting for the creation of a new pod on the node, the attacker can gain access to the underlying node. 

### Patches

The issue has been fixed and is available on versions >=1.11.15, >=1.12.8, >=1.13.1.

### Workarounds

[Kubernetes RBAC](https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/access-authn-authz/rbac/) should be used to deny users and service accounts `exec` access to Cilium agent pods.

In cases where a user requires `exec` access to Cilium agent pods, but should not have access to the underlying node, no workaround is possible.

### References

* [PR containing resolution](https://github.com/cilium/cilium/pull/24075)

### Acknowledgements

The Cilium community has worked together with members of Isovalent and Form3 to prepare these mitigations. Special thanks to Anastasios Koutlis, Daniel Teixeira, and Magdalena Oczadly for their cooperation. 

### For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory, please reach out on [Slack](https://docs.cilium.io/en/latest/community/community/#slack).

As usual, if you think you found a related vulnerability, we strongly encourage you to report security vulnerabilities to our private security mailing list: security@cilium.io - first, before disclosing them in any public forums. This is a private mailing list where only members of the Cilium internal security team are subscribed to, and is treated as top priority. 

## Affected packages

- `github.com/cilium/cilium < 1.11.15`
- `github.com/cilium/cilium >= 1.12.0, < 1.12.8`
- `github.com/cilium/cilium >= 1.13.0, < 1.13.1`

## Remediation

Upgrade to a patched release:

- `github.com/cilium/cilium 1.11.15`
- `github.com/cilium/cilium 1.12.8`
- `github.com/cilium/cilium 1.13.1`