Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2020-15157


In containerd (an industry-standard container runtime) before version 1.2.14 there is a credential leaking vulnerability. If a container image manifest in the OCI Image format or Docker Image V2 Schema 2 format includes a URL for the location of a specific image layer (otherwise known as a “foreign layer”), the default containerd resolver will follow that URL to attempt to download it. In v1.2.x but not 1.3.0 or later, the default containerd resolver will provide its authentication credentials if the server where the URL is located presents an HTTP 401 status code along with registry-specific HTTP headers. If an attacker publishes a public image with a manifest that directs one of the layers to be fetched from a web server they control and they trick a user or system into pulling the image, they can obtain the credentials used for pulling that image. In some cases, this may be the user's username and password for the registry. In other cases, this may be the credentials attached to the cloud virtual instance which can grant access to other cloud resources in the account. The default containerd resolver is used by the cri-containerd plugin (which can be used by Kubernetes), the ctr development tool, and other client programs that have explicitly linked against it. This vulnerability has been fixed in containerd 1.2.14. containerd 1.3 and later are not affected. If you are using containerd 1.3 or later, you are not affected. If you are using cri-containerd in the 1.2 series or prior, you should ensure you only pull images from trusted sources. Other container runtimes built on top of containerd but not using the default resolver (such as Docker) are not affected.


Security Impact Summary

This vulnerability carries a MEDIUM severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 6.1, indicating it can be exploited remotely over the network but requires specific conditions to be met though user interaction is required and does not require pre-existing privileges . The vulnerability impacts confidentiality (data exposure), for affected systems. Impacting 3 products from linuxfoundation, from canonical, from debian organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

Reported in 2020, this vulnerability emerged during an era marked by increased sophistication in supply chain attacks, cloud infrastructure vulnerabilities, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) security challenges. Security practices during this period emphasized zero-trust architectures, container security, and API protection.


Published

2020-10-16T17:15:11.870

Last Modified

2024-11-21T05:04:57.953

Status

Modified

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv3.1: 6.1 (MEDIUM)

CVSSv2 Vector

AV:N/AC:H/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N

  • Access Vector: NETWORK
  • Access Complexity: HIGH
  • Authentication: NONE
  • Confidentiality Impact: PARTIAL
  • Integrity Impact: NONE
  • Availability Impact: NONE
Exploitability Score

4.9

Impact Score

2.9

Weaknesses
  • Type: Secondary
    CWE-522
  • Type: Primary
    CWE-522

Affected Vendors & Products
Type Vendor Product Version/Range Vulnerable?
Application linuxfoundation containerd < 1.2.14 Yes
Application linuxfoundation containerd 1.3.0 Yes
Application linuxfoundation containerd 1.3.0 Yes
Application linuxfoundation containerd 1.3.0 Yes
Application linuxfoundation containerd 1.3.0 Yes
Application linuxfoundation containerd 1.3.0 Yes
Application linuxfoundation containerd 1.3.0 Yes
Application linuxfoundation containerd 1.3.0 Yes
Application linuxfoundation containerd 1.3.0 Yes
Operating System canonical ubuntu_linux 16.04 Yes
Operating System canonical ubuntu_linux 18.04 Yes
Operating System canonical ubuntu_linux 20.04 Yes
Operating System debian debian_linux 10.0 Yes

References

How SecUtils Interprets This CVE

SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For linuxfoundation's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.