Improper use of metav1.Duration allows for Denial of Service

Exploitation

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

CVSS

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

EPSS

• CVE-2022-39272: 0.77% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 55.66 (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.

Flux controllers within the affected versions range are vulnerable to a denial of service attack. Users that have permissions to change Flux’s objects, either through a Flux source or directly within a cluster, can provide invalid data to fields .spec.interval or .spec.timeout (and structured variations of these fields), causing the entire object type to stop being processed. The issue has two root causes: a) the Kubernetes type metav1.Duration not being fully compatible with the Go type time.Duration as explained on upstream report; b) lack of validation within Flux to restrict allowed values. Workarounds Admission controllers can be employed to restrict the values that can be used for fields .spec.interval and .spec.timeout, however upgrading to the latest versions is still the recommended mitigation. Credits This issue was reported by Alexander Block (@codablock) through the Flux security mailing list (as recommended). For more information If you have any questions or comments…

Published by the source

19 Oct 2022, 18:40 UTC

Last modified by the source

20 May 2024, 21:35 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 15:04 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-f4p5-x4vc-mh4v

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2022-39272

Advisory: Improper use of metav1.Duration allows for Denial of Service
IDs: CVE-2022-39272, GHSA-f4p5-x4vc-mh4v
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2022-39272 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 15:04 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Medium (CVSS 5.0)
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/source-controller 0.30.0; github.com/fluxcd/notification-controller 0.27.0; github.com/fluxcd/kustomize-controller 0.29.0; github.com/fluxcd/image-reflector-controller/api 0.22.1; github.com/fluxcd/notification-controller/api 0.28.0; github.com/fluxcd/image-reflector-controller 0.22.0; github.com/fluxcd/image-automation-controller 0.26.0; github.com/fluxcd/kustomize-controller/api 0.30.0; github.com/fluxcd/helm-controller 0.24.0; github.com/fluxcd/flux2 0.35.0; github.com/fluxcd/source-controller/api 0.30.0; github.com/fluxcd/image-automation-controller/api 0.26.1; github.com/fluxcd/helm-controller/api 0.26.0. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Go github.com/fluxcd/source-controller: affected >= 0.0.1-alpha-1, < 0.30.0; fixed in 0.30.0
- Go github.com/fluxcd/notification-controller: affected >= 0.0.1-alpha-1, < 0.27.0; fixed in 0.27.0
- Go github.com/fluxcd/kustomize-controller: affected >= 0.0.1-alpha-1, < 0.29.0; fixed in 0.29.0
- Go github.com/fluxcd/image-reflector-controller/api: affected < 0.22.1; fixed in 0.22.1
- Go github.com/fluxcd/notification-controller/api: affected < 0.28.0; fixed in 0.28.0
- Go github.com/fluxcd/image-reflector-controller: affected >= 0.1.0, < 0.22.0; fixed in 0.22.0
- Go github.com/fluxcd/image-automation-controller: affected >= 0.1.0, < 0.26.0; fixed in 0.26.0
- Go github.com/fluxcd/kustomize-controller/api: affected < 0.30.0; fixed in 0.30.0
- Go github.com/fluxcd/helm-controller: affected >= 0.0.1-alpha-1, < 0.24.0; fixed in 0.24.0
- Go github.com/fluxcd/flux2: affected >= 0.1.0, < 0.35.0; fixed in 0.35.0
- Go github.com/fluxcd/source-controller/api: affected < 0.30.0; fixed in 0.30.0
- Go github.com/fluxcd/image-automation-controller/api: affected < 0.26.1; fixed in 0.26.1
- Go github.com/fluxcd/helm-controller/api: affected < 0.26.0; fixed in 0.26.0

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Go github.com/fluxcd/source-controller: check the installed version with your package manager.
- Go github.com/fluxcd/notification-controller: check the installed version with your package manager.
- Go github.com/fluxcd/kustomize-controller: check the installed version with your package manager.
- Go github.com/fluxcd/image-reflector-controller/api: check the installed version with your package manager.
- Go github.com/fluxcd/notification-controller/api: check the installed version with your package manager.
- Go github.com/fluxcd/image-reflector-controller: check the installed version with your package manager.
- Go github.com/fluxcd/image-automation-controller: check the installed version with your package manager.
- Go github.com/fluxcd/kustomize-controller/api: check the installed version with your package manager.
- Go github.com/fluxcd/helm-controller: check the installed version with your package manager.
- Go github.com/fluxcd/flux2: check the installed version with your package manager.
- Go github.com/fluxcd/source-controller/api: check the installed version with your package manager.
- Go github.com/fluxcd/image-automation-controller/api: check the installed version with your package manager.
- Go github.com/fluxcd/helm-controller/api: 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/source-controller, github.com/fluxcd/notification-controller, github.com/fluxcd/kustomize-controller, github.com/fluxcd/image-reflector-controller/api, github.com/fluxcd/notification-controller/api, github.com/fluxcd/image-reflector-controller, github.com/fluxcd/image-automation-controller, github.com/fluxcd/kustomize-controller/api, github.com/fluxcd/helm-controller, github.com/fluxcd/flux2, github.com/fluxcd/source-controller/api, github.com/fluxcd/image-automation-controller/api, github.com/fluxcd/helm-controller/api.
- 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-f4p5-x4vc-mh4v (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-f4p5-x4vc-mh4v lists affected ranges: Go github.com/fluxcd/flux2 >=0.1.0 =0.0.1-alpha-1 =0.0.1-alpha-1 =0.0.1-alpha-1 =0.0.1-alpha-1 =0.1.0 =0.1.0…)

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