Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This OpenShift flaw can let someone who already has node access, or container access with /etc/kubernetes mounted, copy a kubeconfig and try to add a node they control to the cluster. That creates serious confidentiality, integrity, and availability risk, but the source bundle does not provide CVSS scoring or evidence of active exploitation.
Executive priority
Treat this as a high-priority cluster hardening and patch validation item for affected OpenShift environments. It is not internet-exploitable from the evidence provided, but compromise after node or container access could affect the whole cluster.
Technical view
CVE-2020-35514 is an insecure modification issue affecting OpenShift machine-config-operator before openshift4/ose-machine-config-operator v4.7.0-202105111858.p0. The exposed asset is /etc/kubernetes/kubeconfig. Abuse requires local node access or a running container that mounts /etc/kubernetes, then could enable unauthorized node admission attempts.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely in OpenShift clusters running affected machine-config-operator builds, especially where containers mount /etc/kubernetes or where node local access is broadly available.
Exploitation context
The provided sources do not show KEV listing or active exploitation. The scenario is post-access: an attacker must already reach a node locally or a privileged/misconfigured container mount.
Researcher notes
The public record is sparse: no CVSS vector, no detailed Red Hat remediation text in the bundle, and no exploit evidence. Analysis should focus on affected MCO versioning, kubeconfig exposure through hostPath-style mounts, and unauthorized node lifecycle events.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade affected OpenShift machine-config-operator builds to the fixed version or later.
- Check Red Hat guidance for the supported update path for your OpenShift release.
- Remove unnecessary container mounts of /etc/kubernetes.
- Restrict local node access to trusted administrators only.
- Review file access controls around /etc/kubernetes/kubeconfig.
Validation and detection
- Inventory OpenShift machine-config-operator versions across clusters.
- Identify workloads mounting /etc/kubernetes or host paths exposing it.
- Review node access paths for excessive administrator or service access.
- Check cluster records for unexpected node additions or join attempts.
- Confirm Red Hat advisory guidance is applied for the affected release.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-266: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupContainer behavior lookup
The affected technology mentions containers, so container-specific ATT&CK technique review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2020-35514 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Unknown
- CVSS
- Not scored
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS and timeline data
No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1914714CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Incorrect Privilege Assignment
Incorrect Privilege Assignment represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.