Kubernetes Attack Lets Hackers Steal SPIFFE Workload Identities and Impersonate Applicationsnew
Unit 42 detailed a Kubernetes technique where node-root attackers spoof cgroup selectors to steal SPIFFE/SPIRE workload identities and impersonate applications.
Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 described a post-exploitation technique in which an attacker with root access to a Kubernetes node manipulates cgroup metadata so the local SPIRE agent issues valid SVIDs belonging to co-located workloads. Stolen X.509 or JWT SVIDs let the attacker impersonate victim applications over mutual TLS or pass identity-aware authorization, turning node compromise into lateral movement and privilege escalation. Unit 42 said it has not observed exploitation in the wild and released the open-source Spooffe tool so defenders can measure which identities are harvestable per node.