TI-2026-19239 Aliases CVE-2026-23881 GHSA-r2rj-wwm5-x6mq

Kyverno Denial of Service via Context Variable Amplification in Policy Engine

HIGH 67CWE-770Published 2026-01-27 · Updated 2026-01-27

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-770.

Summary

Kyverno is a policy engine designed for cloud native platform engineering teams. Versions prior to 1.16.3 and 1.15.3 have unbounded memory consumption in Kyverno's policy engine that allows users with policy creation privileges to cause denial of service by crafting policies that exponentially amplify string data through context variables. 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 0.00618 49th 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: 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
kyverno	kyverno	before 1.15.3; 1.16.0 to before 1.16.3	1.15.3, 1.16.3	Patch available	CNA
—	github.com/kyverno/kyverno (Go)	before 1.15.3	1.15.3	Patch available	GHSA-r2rj-wwm5-x6mq
—	github.com/kyverno/kyverno (Go)	1.16.0-rc.1 to before 1.16.3	1.16.3	Patch available	GHSA-r2rj-wwm5-x6mq

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-r2rj-wwm5-x6mq
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-r2rj-wwm5-x6mq

CPE configurations NVD · 1

CPE	Versions	Role	Vendor
cpe:2.3:a:kyverno:kyverno::::::::	before 1.15.3; 1.16.0 to before 1.16.3	Vulnerable	kyverno

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-r2rj-wwm5-x6mq github.com/kyverno/kyverno (Go) Fixed in 1.15.3 Advisory →
Fix · GHSA-r2rj-wwm5-x6mq github.com/kyverno/kyverno (Go) Fixed in 1.16.3 Advisory →

Timeline

2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-23881
2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-r2rj-wwm5-x6mq

References

Exploit 1

https://github.com/kyverno/kyverno/security/advisories/GHSA-r2rj-wwm5-x6mq

Patch 2

Advisory 1

https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-23881

Other 1

https://github.com/kyverno/kyverno

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

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