Kong Operator cluster-wide ingress configuration DoS via embedded KIC CA-certificate ID collision
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Attack requirements
- None
- Impact type
- Denial of service, Security bypass
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-400 and CWE-862.
Summary
Kong Operator's embedded Kong Kubernetes Ingress Controller (KIC) allows a user with namespace-scoped Secret creation privileges to cause a cluster-wide ingress configuration denial of service. The embedded KIC collects CA-certificate Secrets across all watched namespaces using a label selector alone, without ingress-class or namespace restrictions. The CA-certificate primary key is derived from a user-supplied field in the Secret. Duplicate CA-certificate IDs cause Kong Gateway to reject the entire configuration document and halting all ingress changes cluster-wide.
Why it matters now
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
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | Kong/kong-operator | 2.2.0 to before 2.2.3; 2.1.0 to before 2.1.9; before 2.0.11 | 2.2.3, 2.1.9, 2.0.11 | Patch available | CNA |
- Kong/kong-operator Vendor— Affected 2.2.0 to before 2.2.3; 2.1.0 to before 2.1.9; before 2.0.11 Fixed in 2.2.3, 2.1.9, 2.0.11 Patch available CNA
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Kong/kong-operator Fixed in 2.2.3, 2.1.9, 2.0.11
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-16543
Sources
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences