Read the docs
TI-2025-29811 Aliases CVE-2025-47281GHSA-r5p3-955p-5ggq

Kyverno's Improper JMESPath Variable Evaluation Leads to Denial of Service

Priority HIGH 67CWE-20Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Network
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Impact type
Denial of service
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
None · None · High
Fix status
Fixed

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and GitHub. Impact type from CWE-248.

Summary

Kyverno is a policy engine designed for cloud native platform engineering teams. In versions 1.14.1 and below, a Denial of Service (DoS) vulnerability exists due to improper handling of JMESPath variable substitutions. Attackers with permissions to create or update Kyverno policies can craft expressions using the {{@}} variable combined with a pipe and an invalid JMESPath function (e.g., {{@ | non_existent_function }}). This leads to a nil value being substituted into the policy structure. Subsequent processing by internal functions, specifically getValueAsStringMap, which expect string values, results in a panic due to a type assertion failure (interface {} is nil, not string). This crashes Kyverno worker threads in the admission controller and causes continuous crashes of the reports controller pod. This is fixed in version 1.14.2.

Why it matters now

Exploitation Proof of concept CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00555 46th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Public exploit Yes 1 exploit referenceTagged by NVD
Fix Fixed kyverno (kyverno): 1.14.2github.com/kyverno/kyverno (Go): 1.14.2

SSVC decision points

CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3

Exploitation
Poc
Automatable
No
Technical impact
Partial

The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
kyvernokyvernobefore 1.14.21.14.2Patch availableCNA
—github.com/kyverno/kyverno (Go)before 1.14.21.14.2Patch availableGHSA-r5p3-955p-5ggq
  • kyverno Vendorkyverno Affected before 1.14.2 Fixed in 1.14.2 Patch available CNA
  • github.com/kyverno/kyverno (Go) Vendor— Affected before 1.14.2 Fixed in 1.14.2 Patch available GHSA-r5p3-955p-5ggq

CPE configurations NVD · 1

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:a:kyverno:kyverno:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*before 1.14.2Vulnerablekyverno
  • cpe:2.3:a:kyverno:kyverno:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions before 1.14.2 Vulnerable ·kyverno

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA kyverno (kyverno) Fixed in 1.14.2
  • Fix · GHSA-r5p3-955p-5ggq github.com/kyverno/kyverno (Go) Fixed in 1.14.2 Advisory →

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2025-47281
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-r5p3-955p-5ggq

References

  • TI-2026-17733 Kyverno Cross-Namespace Privilege Escalation via Policy apiCall CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 10.0
  • TI-2026-29924 Kyverno: ServiceAccount token leaked to external servers via apiCall service URL CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.1
  • TI-2026-29524 kyverno apicall servicecall implicit bearer token injection leaks kyverno serviceaccount token CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.1
  • TI-2025-21189 Kyverno ignores subjectRegExp and IssuerRegExp CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.0
  • TI-2026-30072 Kyverno Controller Denial of Service via forEach Mutation Panic CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.7
  • TI-2026-29707 Kyverno: Cross-Namespace Read Bypasses RBAC Isolation (CVE-2026-22039 Incomplete Fix) CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.7
See all 11 →

Sources