CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2023-33190 — Sealos is an open source cloud operating system distribution based on the Kubernetes kernel

Critical CVSS 9.9

Sealos is an open source cloud operating system distribution based on the Kubernetes kernel. In versions of Sealos prior to 4.2.1-rc4 an improper configuration of role based access control (RBAC) permissions resulted in an attacker being able to obtain cluster control permissions, which could control the entire cluster deployed with Sealos, as well as hundreds of pods and other resources within the cluster. This issue has been addressed in version 4.2.1-rc4. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.

Severity
Critical
CVSS
9.9 (3.1)
Published
2023-06-29
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
operating-system
Weaknesses
CWE-287, CWE-863

Affected products

  • sealos_project / sealos
  • sealos_project / sealos / 4.2.1

Showing 2 representative product identities from 4 source matches. Confirm exact affected versions with the linked vendor and NVD evidence.

Matched remediation archetype

Authentication bypass and missing authentication

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Check exposure

  • Map every affected endpoint and protocol path, including alternate ports, legacy routes, recovery flows, service accounts, and machine-to-machine access.
  • Confirm which deployments enable the affected authentication mode and whether the interface is reachable from untrusted networks.
  • Review session, token, credential, and proxy trust configuration without attempting account takeover.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the supported fix and centralize fail-closed authentication before protected request handling.
  • Remove default or embedded credentials, rotate affected secrets and sessions, and bind authentication decisions to the intended audience and channel.
  • Add negative tests for alternate routes, malformed or absent credentials, recovery flows, and proxy-derived identity.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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