CVE-2023-2250

Cluster-admin escalation via overprivileged controller roles

Published Apr 24, 2023 · Updated Feb 4, 2025

Privilege chaining in Red Hat Multicluster Engine for Kubernetes 2.3.0 allows local users to obtain cluster-admin access. The registration operator installs ClusterRoles that grant its controller service accounts bind and escalate rights over ClusterRoles and cluster-wide access to secrets. Access to a worker node hosting a cluster-manager deployment is required; its service-account token can bind cluster-admin to an account or read secrets across namespaces.

CVSS severity6.7
Medium
EPSS probability0.20%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Privilege chaining in Red Hat Multicluster Engine for Kubernetes 2.3.0 allows local users to obtain cluster-admin access. The registration operator installs ClusterRoles that grant its controller service accounts bind and escalate rights over ClusterRoles and cluster-wide access to secrets. Access to a worker node hosting a cluster-manager deployment is required; its service-account token can bind cluster-admin to an account or read secrets across namespaces.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-2250
Published
Apr 24, 2023
Updated
Feb 4, 2025
Vendor
Red Hat
Product
Multicluster Engine for Kubernetes
Classifications
CWE-268, T1098.006
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Apr 24, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Feb 4, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

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

  1. Affected versionversion=2.3.0

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Red Hat · Multicluster Engine for Kubernetesversion=2.3.0

Published CVSS scores

6.7NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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.

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No observations available

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

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-268Privilege Chaining
T1098.006Additional Container Cluster Roles

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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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