Flannel vulnerable to cross-node remote code execution via extension backend BackendData injection (flannel-io flannel)

CVE-2026-32241
HIGH 7.5

At a glance

Source
NVD
EPSS
EPSS 2.76 % · percentile 86 ()
State
PUBLISHED
Published
Updated
Assigner
GitHub_M
NVD status
Analyzed

Description

Flannel is a network fabric for containers, designed for Kubernetes. The Flannel project includes an experimental Extension backend that allows users to easily prototype new backend types. In versions of Flannel prior to 0.28.2, this Extension backend is vulnerable to a command injection that allows an attacker who can set Kubernetes Node annotations to achieve root-level arbitrary command execution on every flannel node in the cluster. The Extension backend's SubnetAddCommand and SubnetRemoveCommand receive attacker-controlled data via stdin (from the `flannel.alpha.coreos.com/backend-data` Node annotation). The content of this annotation is unmarshalled and piped directly to a shell command without checks. Kubernetes clusters using Flannel with the Extension backend are affected by this vulnerability. Other backends such as vxlan and wireguard are unaffected. The vulnerability is fixed in version v0.28.2. As a workaround, use Flannel with another backend such as vxlan or wireguard.

Weaknesses (CWE)

  • CWE-77 — Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in a Command

References

Scores

VersionScoreVectorScored by
CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HGitHub_M
CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HNVD · security-advisories@github.com (Secondary)
CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HNVD · nvd@nist.gov (Primary)

Advisories

European references

CERT-FR advisories

Affected configurations (NVD CPE)

Affected products

ProductVersions
flannel-io · flannelaffected < 0.28.2

Sources

SourceLicence
CVE List (CVEProject cvelistV5)CVE Program Terms of Use
EPSS (FIRST.org)FIRST — attribution requested
ENISA EUVDENISA — reproduction authorised, source acknowledged
CERT-FR (ANSSI)Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0
NVD (NIST) via fkie-cad/nvd-json-data-feedsPublic domain — this product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD