Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2024-5042 is an RBAC over-permission issue in Submariner-related components. An attacker who already has high privileges could use those permissions to run a malicious container on a node, steal service account tokens, and expand compromise across nodes or the cluster.
Executive priority
Treat this as a cluster containment risk, not a first-entry vulnerability. Prioritize patching affected OpenShift Data Foundation and Submariner deployments where privileged users, operators, or node workloads are high-value targets.
Technical view
The flaw is classified as CWE-250 and scored CVSS 6.6. Sources describe unnecessary RBAC permissions in submariner-operator that may enable a privileged attacker to deploy a malicious container, access service account tokens, and escalate impact across a Kubernetes/OpenShift cluster.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely in environments running affected submariner-operator versions or listed Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation 4.16/4.20 EL9 packages. Internet exposure is not the main condition; attacker privilege inside the cluster is required.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or confirmed active exploitation. Exploitation requires high privileges and high attack complexity, but successful abuse could materially worsen an existing node or cluster compromise.
Researcher notes
Evidence supports an overbroad RBAC condition enabling post-compromise expansion. The bundle does not provide exploit details, public exploitation evidence, or complete fixed-version mapping for all affected entries, so validation should anchor on vendor advisories and local package inventory.
Mitigation direction
- Apply relevant Red Hat errata updates for affected OpenShift Data Foundation packages.
- Check vendor guidance for fixed submariner-operator versions before upgrading.
- Review Submariner/operator RBAC permissions and remove unnecessary privileges where supported.
- Limit who can create privileged workloads or modify operator service accounts.
- Monitor for unexpected service account token use and privileged container activity.
Validation and detection
- Inventory clusters using submariner-operator and affected ODF package names.
- Compare installed versions with the affected versions in CVE and Red Hat advisories.
- Review ClusterRole and ClusterRoleBinding assignments for Submariner components.
- Check audit logs for unexpected privileged workload creation on nodes.
- Look for unusual service account token use after node-level compromise indicators.
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-250: 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-2024-5042 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
- Medium
- CVSS
- 6.6 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:H/A:N
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.
SSVC decision data
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:H/A:N1.34.7redhatVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
6.6MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:H/A:N
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- Source timelineredhat
Reported to Red Hat.
- Source timelineredhat
Made public.
- CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- RHSA-2024:4591CVE reference, redhat · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHSA-2026:6503CVE reference, redhat · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2024-5042CVE reference, redhat · vdb-entry, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHBZ#2280921CVE reference, redhat · issue-tracking, x_refsource_REDHAT
- https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-2rhx-qhxp-5jpwCVE reference, redhat
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.