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.

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Fri, 27 Mar 2026 19:45:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
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.
Title Flannel vulnerable to cross-node remote code execution via extension backend BackendData injection
Weaknesses CWE-77
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}


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cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: GitHub_M

Published:

Updated: 2026-03-27T19:31:48.276Z

Reserved: 2026-03-11T14:47:05.684Z

Link: CVE-2026-32241

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2026-03-27T20:16:30.570

Modified: 2026-03-27T20:16:30.570

Link: CVE-2026-32241

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-03-27T20:27:31Z

Weaknesses