k8saudit shipped rules do not detect privileged/sensitive settings on init or ephemeral containers
The `k8saudit` plugin's per-container fields (`ka.req.pod.containers.*`) and the shipped `k8s_audit_rules.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, not a direct privilege escalation, and it requires the ability to create pods. The cloud-provider variants (`k8saudit-eks`, `k8saudit-gke`, `k8saudit-aks`, `k8saudit-ovh`) embed the same extraction logic and ship the same ruleset, and were affected equally. Note: adding an ephemeral container goes through the `pods/ephemeralcontainers` subresource, so the `EphemeralContainers Created` rule still logged that event at `NOTICE`, but without any privileged/security evaluat
GHSA-jhjp-4c2q-xmx4
Primary source · Revision 1
Imported from structured advisory data. Source references identify upstream records or fields; verify affected versions and your deployed configuration.
Security context
Source reference: osv:GHSA-jhjp-4c2q-xmx4
github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit
Source reference: /affected/0/package/name
- Affected versions
- Not stated in this record
- Fixed versions
- 0.18.0
Source reference:
/affected/0/ranges - Prerequisites
- Not stated in this record
github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit-eks
Source reference: /affected/1/package/name
- Affected versions
- Not stated in this record
- Fixed versions
- 0.12.0
Source reference:
/affected/1/ranges - Prerequisites
- Not stated in this record
github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit-gke
Source reference: /affected/2/package/name
- Affected versions
- Not stated in this record
- Fixed versions
- 0.9.0
Source reference:
/affected/2/ranges - Prerequisites
- Not stated in this record
github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit-aks
Source reference: /affected/3/package/name
- Affected versions
- Not stated in this record
- Fixed versions
- 0.6.0
Source reference:
/affected/3/ranges - Prerequisites
- Not stated in this record
github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit-ovh
Source reference: /affected/4/package/name
- Affected versions
- Not stated in this record
- Fixed versions
- 0.6.0
Source reference:
/affected/4/ranges - Prerequisites
- Not stated in this record
Structured affected-version data
Original package identities and version rules from this source.
[
{
"ranges": [
{
"type": "SEMVER",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "0.18.0"
}
]
}
],
"package": {
"name": "github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit",
"purl": "pkg:golang/github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit",
"ecosystem": "Go"
},
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://github.com/github/advisory-database/blob/main/advisories/github-reviewed/2026/09/GHSA-jhjp-4c2q-xmx4/GHSA-jhjp-4c2q-xmx4.json",
"last_known_affected_version_range": "<= 0.17.0"
}
},
{
"ranges": [
{
"type": "SEMVER",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "0.12.0"
}
]
}
],
"package": {
"name": "github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit-eks",
"purl": "pkg:golang/github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit-eks",
"ecosystem": "Go"
},
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://github.com/github/advisory-database/blob/main/advisories/github-reviewed/2026/09/GHSA-jhjp-4c2q-xmx4/GHSA-jhjp-4c2q-xmx4.json",
"last_known_affected_version_range": "<= 0.11.0"
}
},
{
"ranges": [
{
"type": "SEMVER",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "0.9.0"
}
]
}
],
"package": {
"name": "github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit-gke",
"purl": "pkg:golang/github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit-gke",
"ecosystem": "Go"
},
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://github.com/github/advisory-database/blob/main/advisories/github-reviewed/2026/09/GHSA-jhjp-4c2q-xmx4/GHSA-jhjp-4c2q-xmx4.json",
"last_known_affected_version_range": "<= 0.8.0"
}
},
{
"ranges": [
{
"type": "SEMVER",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "0.6.0"
}
]
}
],
"package": {
"name": "github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit-aks",
"purl": "pkg:golang/github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit-aks",
"ecosystem": "Go"
},
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://github.com/github/advisory-database/blob/main/advisories/github-reviewed/2026/09/GHSA-jhjp-4c2q-xmx4/GHSA-jhjp-4c2q-xmx4.json",
"last_known_affected_version_range": "<= 0.5.1"
}
},
{
"ranges": [
{
"type": "SEMVER",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "0.6.0"
}
]
}
],
"package": {
"name": "github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit-ovh",
"purl": "pkg:golang/github.com/falcosecurity/plugins/plugins/k8saudit-ovh",
"ecosystem": "Go"
},
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://github.com/github/advisory-database/blob/main/advisories/github-reviewed/2026/09/GHSA-jhjp-4c2q-xmx4/GHSA-jhjp-4c2q-xmx4.json",
"last_known_affected_version_range": "<= 0.5.0"
}
}
]Publisher severity
No explicit severity was provided.
- Event
- #23430 · Revision 1
- Added to Heist Feed
- Publisher date