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TI-2026-17733 Aliases CVE-2026-22039GHSA-8p9x-46gm-qfx2

Kyverno Cross-Namespace Privilege Escalation via Policy apiCall

Priority HIGH 76CWE-269Published · Updated

Key facts

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

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and GitHub. Impact type from CWE-269.

Summary

Kyverno is a policy engine designed for cloud native platform engineering teams. Versions prior to 1.16.3 and 1.15.3 have a critical authorization boundary bypass in namespaced Kyverno Policy apiCall. The resolved `urlPath` is executed using the Kyverno admission controller ServiceAccount, with no enforcement that the request is limited to the policy’s namespace. As a result, any authenticated user with permission to create a namespaced Policy can cause Kyverno to perform Kubernetes API requests using Kyverno’s admission controller identity, targeting any API path allowed by that ServiceAccount’s RBAC. This breaks namespace isolation by enabling cross-namespace reads (for example, ConfigMaps and, where permitted, Secrets) and allows cluster-scoped or cross-namespace writes (for example, creating ClusterPolicies) by controlling the urlPath through context variable substitution. Versions 1.16.3 and 1.15.3 contain a patch for the vulnerability.

Why it matters now

Exploitation Proof of concept CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00578 47th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Public exploit Yes 1 exploit referenceTagged by NVD
Fix Fixed kyverno (kyverno): 1.15.3, 1.16.3github.com/kyverno/kyverno (Go): 1.15.3, 1.16.3

SSVC decision points

CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3

Exploitation
Poc
Automatable
No
Technical impact
Total

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 1.15.3; 1.16.0 to before 1.16.31.15.3, 1.16.3Patch availableCNA
—github.com/kyverno/kyverno (Go)before 1.15.31.15.3Patch availableGHSA-8p9x-46gm-qfx2
—github.com/kyverno/kyverno (Go)1.16.0-rc.1 to before 1.16.31.16.3Patch availableGHSA-8p9x-46gm-qfx2
  • kyverno Vendorkyverno Affected before 1.15.3; 1.16.0 to before 1.16.3 Fixed in 1.15.3, 1.16.3 Patch available CNA
  • github.com/kyverno/kyverno (Go) Vendor— Affected before 1.15.3 Fixed in 1.15.3 Patch available GHSA-8p9x-46gm-qfx2
  • github.com/kyverno/kyverno (Go) Vendor— Affected 1.16.0-rc.1 to before 1.16.3 Fixed in 1.16.3 Patch available GHSA-8p9x-46gm-qfx2

CPE configurations NVD · 1

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:a:kyverno:kyverno:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*before 1.15.3; 1.16.0 to before 1.16.3Vulnerablekyverno
  • cpe:2.3:a:kyverno:kyverno:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions before 1.15.3; 1.16.0 to before 1.16.3 Vulnerable ·kyverno

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA kyverno (kyverno) Fixed in 1.15.3, 1.16.3
  • Fix · GHSA-8p9x-46gm-qfx2 github.com/kyverno/kyverno (Go) Fixed in 1.15.3 Advisory →
  • Fix · GHSA-8p9x-46gm-qfx2 github.com/kyverno/kyverno (Go) Fixed in 1.16.3 Advisory →

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-22039
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-8p9x-46gm-qfx2

References

Exploit 1

Patch 2

Advisory 1

Other 1

  • 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
  • TI-2026-19239 Kyverno Denial of Service via Context Variable Amplification in Policy Engine CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.7
See all 11 →

Sources

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