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CVE-2020-15110

Possible pod name collisions in jupyterhub-kubespawner

6.8 MediumFix available

In jupyterhub-kubespawner before 0.12, certain usernames will be able to craft particular server names which will grant them access to the default server of other users who have matching usernames. This has been fixed in 0.12.

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector
Network
Complexity
High
Privileges needed
Low
User interaction
None

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

Exploit likelihood

1.11%Up 0.5 points since Apr 14, 2021
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

CVE List Score used 6.8

Possible pod name collisions in jupyterhub-kubespawner

In jupyterhub-kubespawner before 0.12, certain usernames will be able to craft particular server names which will grant them access to the default server of other users who have matching usernames. This has been fixed in 0.12.

Record
CVE-2020-15110
CVSS 3.1
6.8 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Weakness
CWE-863
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2020-0092 6.8

In jupyterhub-kubespawner before 0.12, certain usernames will be able to craft particular server names which will grant them access to the default server of other users who have matching usernames. This has been fixed in 0.12.

Record
EUVD-2020-0092
CVSS 3.1
6.8 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Updated
2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-v7m9-9497-p9gr 7.6

Possible pod name collisions in jupyterhub-kubespawner

Impact

What kind of vulnerability is it? Who is impacted?

JupyterHub deployments using:

  • KubeSpawner <= 0.11.1 (e.g. zero-to-jupyterhub 0.9.0) and
  • enabled named_servers (not default), and
  • an Authenticator that allows:
    • usernames with hyphens or other characters that require escape (e.g. user-hyphen or user@email), and
    • usernames which may match other usernames up to but not including the escaped character (e.g. user in the above cases)

In this circumstance, certain usernames will be able to craft particular server names which will grant them access to the default server of other users who have matching usernames.

Patches

Has the problem been patched? What versions should users upgrade to?

Patch will be released in kubespawner 0.12 and zero-to-jupyterhub 0.9.1

Workarounds

Is there a way for users to fix or remediate the vulnerability without upgrading?

KubeSpawner

Specify configuration:

for KubeSpawner

from traitlets import default
from kubespawner import KubeSpawner

class PatchedKubeSpawner(KubeSpawner):
    @default("pod_name_template")
    def _default_pod_name_template(self):
        if self.name:
            return "jupyter-{username}-{servername}"
        else:
            return "jupyter-{username}"

    @default("pvc_name_template")
    def _default_pvc_name_template(self):
        if self.name:
            return "claim-{username}-{servername}"
        else:
            return "claim-{username}"

c.JupyterHub.spawner_class = PatchedKubeSpawner

Note for KubeSpawner: this configuration will behave differently before and after the upgrade, so will need to be removed when upgrading. Only apply this configuration while still using KubeSpawner ≤ 0.11.1 and remove it after upgrade to ensure consistent pod and pvc naming.

Changing the name template means pvcs for named servers will have different names. This will result in orphaned PVCs for named servers across Hub upgrade! This may appear as data loss for users, depending on configuration, but the orphaned PVCs will still be around and data can be migrated manually (or new PVCs created manually to reference existing PVs) before deleting the old PVCs and/or PVs.

References

Are there any links users can visit to find out more?

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

Credit: Jining Huang

Record
GHSA-v7m9-9497-p9gr
CVSS 4.0
7.6 HighCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
CVSS 3.1
6.8 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Weakness
CWE-863
Updated
2026-11-02
NVD 6.8

In jupyterhub-kubespawner before 0.12, certain usernames will be able to craft particular server names which will grant them access to the default server of other users who have matching usernames. This has been fixed in 0.12.

Record
CVE-2020-15110
CVSS 3.1
6.8 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
CVSS 3.1
8.1 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
CVSS 2.0
5.5 MediumAV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:N
Weakness
CWE-863
Updated
2026-11-02
OSV 8.1

In jupyterhub-kubespawner before 0.12, certain usernames will be able to craft particular server names which will grant them access to the default server of other users who have matching usernames. This has been fixed in 0.12.

Record
CVE-2020-15110
CVSS 3.1
8.1 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-v7m9-9497-p9gr 7.6

Possible pod name collisions in jupyterhub-kubespawner

Impact

What kind of vulnerability is it? Who is impacted?

JupyterHub deployments using:

  • KubeSpawner <= 0.11.1 (e.g. zero-to-jupyterhub 0.9.0) and
  • enabled named_servers (not default), and
  • an Authenticator that allows:
    • usernames with hyphens or other characters that require escape (e.g. user-hyphen or user@email), and
    • usernames which may match other usernames up to but not including the escaped character (e.g. user in the above cases)

In this circumstance, certain usernames will be able to craft particular server names which will grant them access to the default server of other users who have matching usernames.

Patches

Has the problem been patched? What versions should users upgrade to?

Patch will be released in kubespawner 0.12 and zero-to-jupyterhub 0.9.1

Workarounds

Is there a way for users to fix or remediate the vulnerability without upgrading?

KubeSpawner

Specify configuration:

for KubeSpawner

from traitlets import default
from kubespawner import KubeSpawner

class PatchedKubeSpawner(KubeSpawner):
    @default("pod_name_template")
    def _default_pod_name_template(self):
        if self.name:
            return "jupyter-{username}-{servername}"
        else:
            return "jupyter-{username}"

    @default("pvc_name_template")
    def _default_pvc_name_template(self):
        if self.name:
            return "claim-{username}-{servername}"
        else:
            return "claim-{username}"

c.JupyterHub.spawner_class = PatchedKubeSpawner

Note for KubeSpawner: this configuration will behave differently before and after the upgrade, so will need to be removed when upgrading. Only apply this configuration while still using KubeSpawner ≤ 0.11.1 and remove it after upgrade to ensure consistent pod and pvc naming.

Changing the name template means pvcs for named servers will have different names. This will result in orphaned PVCs for named servers across Hub upgrade! This may appear as data loss for users, depending on configuration, but the orphaned PVCs will still be around and data can be migrated manually (or new PVCs created manually to reference existing PVs) before deleting the old PVCs and/or PVs.

References

Are there any links users can visit to find out more?

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

Credit: Jining Huang

Record
GHSA-v7m9-9497-p9gr
CVSS 4.0
7.6 HighCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
CVSS 3.1
6.8 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Weakness
CWE-863
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVPYSEC-2020-51 No score

In jupyterhub-kubespawner before 0.12, certain usernames will be able to craft particular server names which will grant them access to the default server of other users who have matching usernames. This has been fixed in 0.12.

Record
PYSEC-2020-51
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

Affected packages

Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
jupyterhub-kubespawner
PyPI
through 0.11.1
0.12.0
jupyterhub-kubespawner
PyPI
before 0.12.0, plus listed versions
0.10.10.00.10.10.11.00.11.1
Show 9 moreShow less
0.50.5.10.6.00.7.10.80.8.10.9.00.9.0b10.9.0b2
0.12.0
jupyterhub-kubespawner
PyPI
before 0.12.0, plus listed versions
0.10.50.5.10.6.00.7.1
Show 9 moreShow less
0.80.8.10.9.0b10.9.0b20.9.00.10.00.10.10.11.00.11.1
0.12.0

History

History
RecordedChangedSources
aliasesEUVD
first indexedCVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV

Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.

In short

CVE-2020-15110 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 6.8) in Jupyterhub Kubespawner, published July 17, 2020. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 1.11%, the 66th percentile. Fixed in jupyterhub-kubespawner 0.12.0.

References

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