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Critical Ingress-NGINX Vulnerabilities : Kubernetes vulnerability

By William OGOU
kubernetes nginx-ingress-control cve azure google cloud aws container CVE-2025-1974
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The Kubernetes ecosystem is a powerful tool for managing containerized applications, but recent security vulnerabilities in the Ingress-NGINX controller have exposed a major threat. These flaws, identified as CVE-2025-24514, CVE-2025-1097, and CVE-2025-1098, have the potential to allow attackers to access sensitive data, disrupt services, and compromise the entire Kubernetes environment. This article explains these vulnerabilities in simpler terms and provides actionable advice for teams to fix the issue.

What is Ingress-NGINX?

The Ingress-NGINX controller is a key part of Kubernetes, helping manage how external traffic gets routed to your services inside a Kubernetes cluster. It acts as a reverse proxy and load balancer, making sure traffic is sent to the right place. However, vulnerabilities in this component can allow attackers to target your entire system.

What Are the Vulnerabilities?

Security researchers discovered several critical vulnerabilities in the Ingress-NGINX controller. These flaws could allow attackers to:

  1. Access sensitive data without permission.
  2. Run malicious code within the Kubernetes cluster.
  3. Disrupt critical services, causing downtime.
  4. Take control of the environment.

Why Should You Care?

These vulnerabilities, if exploited, can allow attackers to gain full control over your Kubernetes environment. They can inject malicious code or access confidential data that is usually protected, putting your business at serious risk. Understanding the security landscape across different cloud providers is also important, see AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud Security for a comparison.

The issues stem from:

  • Improper input validation (where user input isn’t properly checked).
  • Weak access controls (giving unauthorized users more permissions than they should have).
  • Insecure configurations (such as default insecure settings or incorrect access rules).

Key Vulnerabilities and Their Impact

Here are the key vulnerabilities discovered in Ingress-NGINX:

  1. CVE-2025-24513 (CVSS score: 4.8): Allows attackers to manipulate file paths, potentially causing denial-of-service (DoS) attacks or limited data leaks.
  2. CVE-2025-24514, CVE-2025-1097, CVE-2025-1098 (CVSS score: 8.8): These flaws allow attackers to inject malicious code into the NGINX configuration, which could lead to remote code execution and expose secrets.
  3. CVE-2025-1974 (CVSS score: 9.8): This is the most dangerous vulnerability, enabling unauthenticated attackers to execute code within the NGINX controller, effectively taking control of your cluster.

How Can Teams Fix These Issues?

To secure your Kubernetes environment, take the following steps:

  1. Update Ingress-NGINX to the Latest Version Immediately upgrade to versions 1.12.1, 1.11.5, or 1.10.7 to patch these vulnerabilities. This is the first step in preventing further exploitation.
  2. Restrict Access to the Admission Controller Ensure that only the Kubernetes API Server can communicate with the admission controller. If you don’t need it, disable it temporarily. This reduces the risk of an attacker gaining access.


Go further :

  1. Monitor and Respond to Threats Regularly monitor your Kubernetes environment for signs of suspicious activity. Implement Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) and security monitoring tools to detect threats early.

Why Proactive Security is Key

These vulnerabilities are a reminder that securing your Kubernetes environment is not a one-time task, but an ongoing process. By adopting a security-first mindset, continuously improving your setup, and staying informed about the latest threats, you can minimize risks and protect your cloud-native applications.

Conclusion

The Ingress-NGINX controller vulnerabilities pose serious risks to Kubernetes environments. By acting fast to update, restrict access, and harden configurations, teams can significantly reduce the risk of exploitation. Don’t wait—take action today to secure your Kubernetes setup.

To further enhance your cloud security and implement Zero Trust, contact me on LinkedIn Profile or [email protected]

FAQ

Why are these vulnerabilities a threat to Kubernetes security?

Ingress-NGINX controls external traffic to your Kubernetes services. If attackers exploit these flaws, they can access sensitive data, run malicious code, or disrupt services.

How can organizations mitigate these vulnerabilities?

Apply security patches, review access controls, configure securely, and monitor for unusual activity.

When should security patches be applied?

Apply patches immediately upon release to prevent attackers from exploiting known vulnerabilities.