Improper Preservation of Permissions in etcd
Priority LOW 31CWE-281Published · Updated
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · None
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 2 fixed, 3 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA, GitHub and Red Hat.
Summary
In etcd before versions 3.3.23 and 3.4.10, certain directory paths are created (etcd data directory and the directory path when provided to automatically generate self-signed certificates for TLS connections with clients) with restricted access permissions (700) by using the os.MkdirAll. This function does not perform any permission checks when a given directory path exists already. A possible workaround is to ensure the directories have the desired permission (700).
Why it matters now
EPSS 0.00218 12th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Partial etcd (etcd-io): 3.3.23, 3.4.10github.com/etcd-io/etcd (Go): 3.4.10, 3.3.23Red Hat: 2 advisoriesRed Hat: 2 fixed, 3 without a fix
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| etcd-io | etcd | before 3.3.23; before 3.4.10 | 3.3.23, 3.4.10 | Patch available | CNA |
| — | github.com/etcd-io/etcd (Go) | 3.4.0-rc.0 to before 3.4.10 | 3.4.10 | Patch available | GHSA-chh6-ppwq-jh92 |
| — | github.com/etcd-io/etcd (Go) | before 3.3.23 | 3.3.23 | Patch available | GHSA-chh6-ppwq-jh92 |
- etcd Vendoretcd-io Affected before 3.3.23; before 3.4.10 Fixed in 3.3.23, 3.4.10 Patch available CNA
- github.com/etcd-io/etcd (Go) Vendor— Affected 3.4.0-rc.0 to before 3.4.10 Fixed in 3.4.10 Patch available GHSA-chh6-ppwq-jh92
- github.com/etcd-io/etcd (Go) Vendor— Affected before 3.3.23 Fixed in 3.3.23 Patch available GHSA-chh6-ppwq-jh92
CPE configurations NVD · 2
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:etcd:etcd:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | before 3.3.23; 3.4.0 to before 3.4.10 | Vulnerable | etcd-io |
| cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:32:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | 32 | Vulnerable | Fedoraproject |
- cpe:2.3:a:etcd:etcd:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions before 3.3.23; 3.4.0 to before 3.4.10 Vulnerable ·etcd-io
- cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:32:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions 32 Vulnerable ·Fedoraproject
Remediation
- Fix · CNA etcd (etcd-io) Fixed in 3.3.23, 3.4.10
- Fix · GHSA-chh6-ppwq-jh92 github.com/etcd-io/etcd (Go) Fixed in 3.4.10 Advisory →
- Fix · GHSA-chh6-ppwq-jh92 github.com/etcd-io/etcd (Go) Fixed in 3.3.23 Advisory →
Red Hat 2 advisories
- RHSA-2021:2438 Released 2021-07-27 · Red Hat rating ModerateOpenShift Container Platform 4.8.2 bug fix and security update
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.8 openshift4/driver-toolkit-rhel8, openshift4/egress-router-cni-rhel8, openshift4/network-tools-rhel8 +47
- RHSA-2021:0916 Released 2021-03-17 · Red Hat rating ModerateRed Hat OpenStack Platform 16.1.4 (etcd) security update
- Red Hat OpenStack Platform 16.1 etcd-3.3.23-1.el8ost
Fixed in the same release
Records fixed by the same vendor advisory or release, as the CNA lists them.
- Advisory ·
etcd-io etcd — FEDORA-2020-cd43b84c16
6 records Highest priority Priority LOW 6 LOW
Other records, highest priority first
- TI-2020-11890 No minimum password length in etcdPriority LOW 36
- TI-2020-11889 Denial of Service in etcdPriority LOW 36
- TI-2020-11909 Improper authentication in etcdPriority LOW 32
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | Affected | No fix planned: Will not fix |
| Red Hat OpenStack Platform 15 (Stein) | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Storage 3 | Affected | No fix planned: Will not fix |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.8 | Fixed | RHSA-2021:2438 |
| Red Hat OpenStack Platform 16.1 | Fixed | RHSA-2021:0916 |
Not affected: 2 products
- Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.8
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2020-15113
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-chh6-ppwq-jh92
References
Advisory 3
More etcd-io Etcd vulnerabilities
- TI-2021-09444 Authentication vulnerability found in Etcd-io v.3.4.10 allows remote attackers to… CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2026-25810 etcd: Authorization bypasses in multiple APIs CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.8
- TI-2022-15016 Etcd v3.5.4 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via function… CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2018-12096 Improper authentication in etcd: CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.1
- TI-2026-42635 etcd: gRPC client listener does not enforce `--client-crl-file` certificate revocation CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.1
- TI-2026-25749 etcd: Nested etcd transactions bypass RBAC authorization checks CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 6.5
Sources
- CVE-2020-15113 · CVE Program
- CVE-2020-15113 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-chh6-ppwq-jh92 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2020-15113 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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