VulnerabilityPublished 3 May 2024Updated 2 Aug 2024

CVE-2024-33398: piraeus-operator · Improper Privilege Management

Affects piraeus-operatorSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.5 High : upgrade to 2.5.1 soon.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 14:05 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.5High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 48% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 2.5.1

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: None
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 3 May 2024
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade piraeusdatastore/piraeus-operator to 2.5.1.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
GitHubpiraeusdatastore/piraeus-operator`pkg:github/piraeusdatastore/piraeus-operator`Other threats	Affected <2.5.1	Fixed in 2.5.1

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

Immediately audit and review all ClusterRole bindings in your Kubernetes clusters, focusing on those associated with piraeus-operator and other operators.
Restrict the list secrets permission to the minimum necessary scope and avoid granting it cluster-wide unless absolutely required.
Rotate all Kubernetes secrets and service account tokens associated with piraeus-operator to invalidate any potentially compromised credentials.
Implement Kubernetes Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) best practices by applying the principle of least privilege, ensuring operators have only the permissions they need.
Monitor Kubernetes audit logs for unusual access patterns to secrets or service account impersonation attempts.
If possible, isolate the piraeus-operator service account in a dedicated namespace with limited permissions.
Stay updated with piraeus-operator releases and apply patches promptly once available.
Consider deploying runtime security tools that can detect anomalous behavior related to secret access or service account impersonation.
Educate DevOps and security teams about the risks of overprivileged ClusterRoles and the importance of secure RBAC configurations.

Description

There is a ClusterRole in piraeus-operator v2.5.0 and earlier which has been granted list secrets permission, which allows an attacker to impersonate the service account bound to this ClusterRole and use its high-risk privileges to list confidential information across the cluster.

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2024-33398 is the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information stored as Kubernetes secrets. This can lead to credential theft, unauthorized access to other cluster resources, and potential lateral movement within the cluster. Organizations relying on piraeus-operator for storage management in Kubernetes environments face risks of data breaches and compromise of critical infrastructure components. The vulnerability affects the confidentiality of cluster secrets but does not directly impact integrity or availability. However, exposure of secrets can indirectly lead to further attacks that compromise integrity or availability. Given the cluster-wide scope of the ClusterRole, the impact can be extensive, affecting all namespaces and workloads within the cluster. This threat is particularly severe for organizations with strict compliance requirements or those operating in regulated industries. The ease of exploitation without authentication or user interaction increases the urgency of addressing this vulnerability.

CWE-269Improper Privilege Management (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessLikelihood of exploit: MediumOWASP Top 10 A06:2025: Insecure Design (opens in a new tab)
The product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor.
MITRE discourages mapping vulnerabilities to this broad entry; the root cause is usually a more specific weakness.
Architecture and Design · Operation
Very carefully manage the setting, management, and handling of privileges. Explicitly manage trust zones in the software.
Architecture and Design · Separation of Privilege
Follow the principle of least privilege when assigning access rights to entities in a software system.
Architecture and Design · Separation of Privilege
Consider following the principle of separation of privilege. Require multiple conditions to be met before permitting access to a system resource.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Docker Security (opens in a new tab)
Third Party Javascript Management (opens in a new tab)
Virtual Patching (opens in a new tab)
Secure Design Principles (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V1.4.4 (opens in a new tab)
V1.4.5 (opens in a new tab)
V1.10.1 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Restful Privilege Elevation (opens in a new tab)
Privilege Abuse (opens in a new tab)
Privilege Escalation (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 26 Feb 2026, 04:30 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-269

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats