k8saudit shipped rules do not detect privileged/sensitive settings on init or ephemeral containers

Exploitation

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

CVSS

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

EPSS

No dated EPSS signal available.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

The k8saudit plugin's per-container fields (ka.req.pod.containers.) and the shipped k8sauditrules.yaml evaluated only requestObject.spec.containers. Security-relevant settings on a pod's initContainers or ephemeralContainers were not inspected, so the shipped Create Privileged Pod rule did not fire for a privileged container placed in either list. Impact An actor able to create pods (the activity k8saudit is intended to audit) could run a privileged container without triggering the default Create Privileged Pod rule, by declaring it as an initContainer or ephemeralContainer instead of a regular container. Kubernetes runs such containers with the requested privileges, but the shipped rule did not see them. The same gap applied to other per-container security settings (capabilities, allowPrivilegeEscalation, runAsUser, etc.) and, for deployments using a customized image allowlist, to disallowed images placed in those lists. This is a detection bypass of the default k8saudit ruleset,…

Published by the source

21 Sep 2026, 21:43 UTC

Last modified by the source

28 Sep 2026, 17:00 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 15:29 UTC

1. Revision 3 · amended · 26 Oct 2026

   Amended from ghsa record GHSA-jhjp-4c2q-xmx4

2. Revision 2 · amended · 24 Oct 2026

   Amended from osv record GO-2026-6538

3. Revision 1 · created · 24 Oct 2026

   Published from osv record GHSA-jhjp-4c2q-xmx4

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# Patch Next advisory brief: GHSA-jhjp-4c2q-xmx4

Advisory: k8saudit shipped rules do not detect privileged/sensitive settings on init or ephemeral containers
IDs: GHSA-jhjp-4c2q-xmx4
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/ghsa-jhjp-4c2q-xmx4 (revision 3, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 15:29 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Medium (CVSS 4.3)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit 0.18.0; github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit-ovh 0.6.0; github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit-eks 0.12.0; github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit-aks 0.6.0; github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit-gke 0.9.0. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Go github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit: affected <= 0.17.0; fixed in 0.18.0
- Go github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit-ovh: affected <= 0.5.0; fixed in 0.6.0
- Go github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit-eks: affected <= 0.11.0; fixed in 0.12.0
- Go github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit-aks: affected <= 0.5.1; fixed in 0.6.0
- Go github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit-gke: affected <= 0.8.0; fixed in 0.9.0

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Go github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit: check the installed version with your package manager.
- Go github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit-ovh: check the installed version with your package manager.
- Go github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit-eks: check the installed version with your package manager.
- Go github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit-aks: check the installed version with your package manager.
- Go github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit-gke: 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/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit, github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit-ovh, github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit-eks, github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit-aks, github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit-gke.
- 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://osv.dev/vulnerability/GHSA-jhjp-4c2q-xmx4 (OSV record GHSA-jhjp-4c2q-xmx4 lists affected ranges: Go github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit >=0 =0 =0 =0 =0 <0.6.0 (fixed))
- Verified: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/GO-2026-6538 (OSV record GO-2026-6538 lists affected ranges: Go github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit >=0 =0 =0 =0 =0 <0.6.0 (fixed))
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-jhjp-4c2q-xmx4 (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-jhjp-4c2q-xmx4 lists affected ranges: Go github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit >=0 =0 =0 =0 =0 <=0.5.0)

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