Read the docs
TI-2025-38481 Aliases CVE-2025-62159

External Secrets Operator's BeyondTrust Provider has Insecure Secret Retrieval

Priority LOW 37CWE-284Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Network
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Attack requirements
None
Impact type
Security bypass
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
High · None · None
Fix status
Fixed

Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-284.

Summary

External Secrets Operator reads information from a third-party service and automatically injects the values as Kubernetes Secrets. A vulnerability was discovered in the BeyondTrust provider implementation for External Secrets Operator versions 0.10.1 through 0.19.2. The provider previously retrieved Kubernetes secrets directly, without validating the namespace context or the type of secret store. This allowed unauthorized cross-namespace secret access, violating security boundaries and potentially exposing sensitive credentials. In version 0.20.0, the provider code was updated to use the `resolvers.SecretKeyRef` utility, which enforces namespace validation and only allows cross-namespace access for `ClusterSecretStore` types. This ensures secrets are only retrieved from the correct namespace, mitigating the risk of unauthorized access. All users should upgrade to the latest version containing this fix. As a workaround, use a policy engine such as Kyverno or OPA to prevent using BeyondTrust provider and/or validate the `(Cluster)SecretStore` and ensure the namespace may only be set when using a `ClusterSecretStore`.

Why it matters now

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00305 23rd percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Fixed external-secrets (external-secrets): 0.20.0

SSVC decision points

CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3

Exploitation
None
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
external-secretsexternal-secrets0.10.1 to before 0.20.00.20.0Patch availableCNA
  • external-secrets Vendorexternal-secrets Affected 0.10.1 to before 0.20.0 Fixed in 0.20.0 Patch available CNA

CPE names Threatist (inferred) · 1

Inferred from how NVD named this product before; not given by a source.

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:a:external-secrets:external_secrets_operator:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*——external-secrets
  • cpe:2.3:a:external-secrets:external_secrets_operator:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions — — ·external-secrets

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA external-secrets (external-secrets) Fixed in 0.20.0

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2025-62159

References

  • TI-2024-30153 External Secrets Operator vulnerable to privilege escalation CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
  • TI-2024-24309 Insecure permissions in external-secrets v0.9.16 allows attackers to access sensitive… CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2026-18338 External Secrets Operator insecurely retrieves secrets through the getSecretKey templating function CVSS 4.0CRITICAL 9.3
  • TI-2026-31081 External Secrets Operator: Namespace Isolation Bypass in CAProvider ConfigMap Resolution for SecretStore CVSS 4.0MEDIUM 5.3
  • TI-2026-68477 External Secrets Operator webhook generator skips label enforcement CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.1
  • TI-2026-27206 External Secrets Operator has DNS exfiltration via getHostByName in its v2 template engine CVSS 4.0HIGH 7.1
See all 8 →

Sources

This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences