Improper path handling in kustomization files allows path traversal

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS

9.9 · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS

• CVE-2022-24877: 1.19% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 67.92 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

The kustomize-controller enables the use of Kustomize’s functionality when applying Kubernetes declarative state onto a cluster. A malicious user can use built-in features and a specially crafted kustomization.yaml to expose sensitive data from the controller’s pod filesystem. In multi-tenancy deployments this can lead to privilege escalation if the controller's service account has elevated permissions. Within the affected versions, users with write access to a Flux source are able to use built-in features to expose sensitive data from the controller’s pod filesystem using a malicious kustomization.yaml file. This vulnerability was fixed in kustomize-controller v0.24.0 and included in flux2 v0.29.0 released on 2022-04-20. The changes introduce a new Kustomize file system implementation which ensures that all files being handled are contained within the Kustomization working directory, blocking references to any files that do not meet that requirement. Automated tooling (e.g.…

Published by the source

4 May 2022, 18:04 UTC

Last modified by the source

1 Feb 2023, 05:01 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 14:54 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-j77r-2fxf-5jrw

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2022-24877

Advisory: Improper path handling in kustomization files allows path traversal
IDs: CVE-2022-24877, GHSA-j77r-2fxf-5jrw
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2022-24877 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 14:54 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Critical (CVSS 9.9)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: github.com/fluxcd/kustomize-controller 0.24.0; github.com/fluxcd/flux2 0.29.0. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Go github.com/fluxcd/kustomize-controller: affected < 0.24.0; fixed in 0.24.0
- Go github.com/fluxcd/flux2: affected < 0.29.0; fixed in 0.29.0

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Go github.com/fluxcd/kustomize-controller: check the installed version with your package manager.
- Go github.com/fluxcd/flux2: check the installed version with your package manager.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on github.com/fluxcd/kustomize-controller, github.com/fluxcd/flux2.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-j77r-2fxf-5jrw (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-j77r-2fxf-5jrw lists affected ranges: Go github.com/fluxcd/kustomize-controller >=0 =0 <0.29.0)

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