CVE-2023-5408Network attack vector

Cluster privilege escalation via unchecked node-role labels

Published Nov 2, 2023 · Updated Nov 7, 2025

Privilege escalation in Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.11 through 4.14 allows remote authenticated users to gain cluster access. The API server's NodeRestriction admission plugin fails to reject node-authenticated changes to protected node-role labels. Control of a node identity is required; accepted changes can redirect control-plane or etcd workloads to another worker and expose broader cluster credentials.

CVSS severity7.2
High
EPSS probability1.11%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Privilege escalation in Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.11 through 4.14 allows remote authenticated users to gain cluster access. The API server's NodeRestriction admission plugin fails to reject node-authenticated changes to protected node-role labels. Control of a node identity is required; accepted changes can redirect control-plane or etcd workloads to another worker and expose broader cluster credentials.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-5408
Published
Nov 2, 2023
Updated
Nov 7, 2025
Vendor
Red Hat
Product
Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.11
Classifications
T1068
Attack vector
network
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Nov 2, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Nov 7, 2025Record 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?

Affected versions are unavailable in this record. Check the vendor advisory for version and patch details.

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Red Hat · Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.11Affected versions are unavailable in this record.
Red Hat · Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.14Affected versions are unavailable in this record.
Red Hat · Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.12Affected versions are unavailable in this record.
Red Hat · Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.13Affected versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

7.2Red HatCVSS:3.1/AV:N/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.

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
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

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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