Description
Flannel is a network fabric for containers, designed for Kubernetes. The Flannel project includes an experimental Extension backend that allows users to easily prototype new backend types. In versions of Flannel prior to 0.28.2, this Extension backend is vulnerable to a command injection that allows an attacker who can set Kubernetes Node annotations to achieve root-level arbitrary command execution on every flannel node in the cluster. The Extension backend's SubnetAddCommand and SubnetRemoveCommand receive attacker-controlled data via stdin (from the `flannel.alpha.coreos.com/backend-data` Node annotation). The content of this annotation is unmarshalled and piped directly to a shell command without checks. Kubernetes clusters using Flannel with the Extension backend are affected by this vulnerability. Other backends such as vxlan and wireguard are unaffected. The vulnerability is fixed in version v0.28.2. As a workaround, use Flannel with another backend such as vxlan or wireguard.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| flannel-io | flannel | < 0.28.2 | — |
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | flannel | 0.28.10-1.1 | openSUSE-SU-2026:12270-1 |
| openSUSE Leap 16.0 | govulncheck-vulndb | 0.0.20260723T184607-160000.1.1 | openSUSE-SU-2026:21483-1 |
| openSUSE Leap 15.6 | govulncheck-vulndb | 0.0.20260402T184258-150000.1.158.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:1205-1 |
Azure Linux
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Azure Linux 3 | flannel | 0.24.2-26 | — |
Wolfi
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wolfi rolling | k3s +1 | 1.35.2.1-r5 | — |
| Wolfi rolling | k3s-1.32 +1 | 1.32.13.1-r8 | — |
Affected packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected | Fixed | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Go | github.com/flannel-io/flannel | < 0.28.2 | 0.28.2 | GHSA-vchx-5pr6-ffx2 |
Advisories 3
- openSUSE-SU-2026:12270-1 flannel-0.28.10-1.1 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Oct 27, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2026:21483-1 Security update for govulncheck-vulndb SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Jul 31, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2026:1205-1 Security update for govulncheck-vulndb SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Apr 8, 2026