CVE-2021-25735Public exploitNetwork attack vector

Admission policy bypass via mutated old Node state

Published Sep 6, 2021 · Updated Sep 16, 2024

Authorization bypass in Kubernetes kube-apiserver allows remote authenticated users to evade Node update admission policy. ValidateNodeUpdate mutates the old Node object while comparing permitted field changes; the altered object is then sent as oldObject to validating admission webhooks, hiding original values. Exploitation requires high-privilege Node update rights and a webhook that denies updates based on those old values; successful bypass permits unauthorized cluster changes.

CVSS severity6.5
Medium
EPSS probability5.52%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Authorization bypass in Kubernetes kube-apiserver allows remote authenticated users to evade Node update admission policy. ValidateNodeUpdate mutates the old Node object while comparing permitted field changes; the altered object is then sent as oldObject to validating admission webhooks, hiding original values. Exploitation requires high-privilege Node update rights and a webhook that denies updates based on those old values; successful bypass permits unauthorized cluster changes.

The record

CVE
CVE-2021-25735
Published
Sep 6, 2021
Updated
Sep 16, 2024
Vendor
Kubernetes
Product
Kubernetes
Classifications
CWE-372, T1562.001
Attack vector
network
Privileges
admin

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Sep 6, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 16, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=unspecified <=1.18.17
  2. Affected versionversion=unspecified <=1.19.9
  3. Affected versionversion=unspecified <=1.20.5

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesadmin

What is affected?

Kubernetes · Kubernetesversion=unspecified <=1.18.17; version=unspecified <=1.19.9; version=unspecified <=1.20.5

Published CVSS scores

6.5KubernetesCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H
5.5NIST NVDAV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:N/I:P/A:P
6.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesadmin
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-372Incomplete Internal State Distinction
T1562.001Disable or Modify Tools

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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