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TI-2026-74325 Aliases CVE-2026-77524GHSA-637c-6jxx-4rwm

Privilege escalation in KEDA lets namespace admins gain cluster admin

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
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

Exploitation Proof of concept CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00602 49th percentileScored 2026-11-08
Fix Partial keda (kedacore): 2.21.0github.com/kedacore/keda/v2 (Go): 2.21.0Red Hat: 1 without a fix

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
kedacorekedabefore 2.21.02.21.0Patch availableCNA
—github.com/kedacore/keda (Go)up to 1.5.0—No fix listedGHSA-637c-6jxx-4rwm
—github.com/kedacore/keda/v2 (Go)before 2.21.02.21.0Patch availableGHSA-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 →

ProductStatusPlan or fix
Custom Metric Autoscaler operator for Red Hat OpenshiftAffectedNo 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

  1. 2026-10-15 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-77524
  2. 2026-10-16 Alias added: GHSA-637c-6jxx-4rwm
  3. 2026-10-16 Fix available: Go/github.com/kedacore/keda/[email protected] · GHSA-637c-6jxx-4rwm
  4. 2026-10-16 CVSS score added · GHSA-637c-6jxx-4rwm
  5. 2026-10-16 Weakness changed · GHSA-637c-6jxx-4rwm
  6. 2026-10-16 5 new references · GHSA-637c-6jxx-4rwm
  7. 2026-10-16 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
  8. 2026-10-16 CVSS score added · Red Hat
  9. 2026-10-20 CISA SSVC decision points changed
  10. 2026-10-20 Priority changed: MEDIUM → HIGH
  11. 2026-10-20 Affected versions changed · Red Hat

References

  • 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