Privilege escalation in KEDA lets namespace admins gain cluster admin
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
- Partial Red Hat: 1 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA, GitHub and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-269.
Summary
KEDA 2.20.2 and earlier lets a namespace administrator obtain the operator's Kubernetes ServiceAccount token, a flaw caused by improper privilege management (CWE-269). A user who can create TriggerAuthentication and ScaledObject resources sets the Vault address to an endpoint they control, and KEDA sends the operator's projected token to it as a Vault login. The attacker reuses that token to gain the operator's cluster-wide permissions, including broad Secret reads.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-28
Description from the CNA
KEDA is a Kubernetes-based Event Driven Autoscaling component. In version 2.20.2 and earlier, a namespace administrator who can create TriggerAuthentication and ScaledObject resources can set hashiCorpVault.address to a tenant-controlled endpoint and select Kubernetes authentication without an explicit credential. KEDA then uses the operator pod's projected ServiceAccount token and sends it to that endpoint as a Vault login credential. The JWT-shape filter from the prior CVE-2025-68476 remediation accepts the operator token because its subject is a Kubernetes ServiceAccount, so the attacker can obtain the operator's cluster-wide permissions, including broad Secret reads and workload or admission-related operations. This vulnerability is fixed in 2.21.0.
Why it matters now
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
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| kedacore | keda | before 2.21.0 | 2.21.0 | Patch available | CNA |
| — | github.com/kedacore/keda (Go) | up to 1.5.0 | — | No fix listed | GHSA-637c-6jxx-4rwm |
| — | github.com/kedacore/keda/v2 (Go) | before 2.21.0 | 2.21.0 | Patch available | GHSA-637c-6jxx-4rwm |
- keda Vendorkedacore Affected before 2.21.0 Fixed in 2.21.0 Patch available CNA
- github.com/kedacore/keda (Go) Vendor— Affected up to 1.5.0 Fixed in — No fix listed GHSA-637c-6jxx-4rwm
- github.com/kedacore/keda/v2 (Go) Vendor— Affected before 2.21.0 Fixed in 2.21.0 Patch available GHSA-637c-6jxx-4rwm
Remediation
Update github.com/kedacore/keda/v2 to 2.21.0, which fixes the flaw. The sources list no fixed version for keda. Red Hat rates this Important and lists Custom Metric Autoscaler operator for Red Hat Openshift as affected with a plan of none_available.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-28
- Fix · CNA keda (kedacore) Fixed in 2.21.0
- Fix · GHSA-637c-6jxx-4rwm github.com/kedacore/keda/v2 (Go) Fixed in 2.21.0 Advisory →
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Important. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Custom Metric Autoscaler operator for Red Hat Openshift | Affected | No fix yet |
Not affected: 4 products
- Custom Metric Autoscaler operator for Red Hat Openshift
- OpenShift Serverless
- Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI)
- Red Hat Openshift Data Foundation 4
Timeline
- 2026-10-15 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-77524
- 2026-10-16 Alias added: GHSA-637c-6jxx-4rwm
- 2026-10-16 Fix available: Go/github.com/kedacore/keda/[email protected] · GHSA-637c-6jxx-4rwm
- 2026-10-16 CVSS score added · GHSA-637c-6jxx-4rwm
- 2026-10-16 Weakness changed · GHSA-637c-6jxx-4rwm
- 2026-10-16 5 new references · GHSA-637c-6jxx-4rwm
- 2026-10-16 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-16 CVSS score added · Red Hat
- 2026-10-20 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-10-20 Priority changed: MEDIUM → HIGH
- 2026-10-20 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
More kedacore vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-38635 KEDA: PostgreSQL connection string parameter injection via incomplete whitespace escaping CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 5.9
- TI-2025-42006 KEDA has Arbitrary File Read via Insufficient Path Validation in HashiCorp Vault Service Account Credential CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.2
Sources
- CVE-2026-77524 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-77524 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-637c-6jxx-4rwm · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-77524 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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