Privilege escalation in Kargo through Project RBAC management
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Attack requirements
- None
- Impact type
- Privilege escalation
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-269.
Summary
Kargo from 0.6.0 before 1.8.14, 1.9.0-rc.1 before 1.9.9, and 1.10.0-rc.1 before 1.10.8 has a privilege management flaw (CWE-269) in its project-scoped RBAC API. A user delegated Role or ServiceAccount management can confer permissions beyond their own, because the API server's privileged credentials write changes after a coarse resource-kind check. This allows Project-administrator access, reading Project Secrets and credentials, and modifying or deleting Project resources, but only within Projects where the user already has that delegation. Exploitation requires an administrator-created custom role with those permissions and control of an account assigned it.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-30
Description from the CNA
Kargo manages and automates the promotion of software artifacts. From 0.6.0 until 1.8.14, 1.9.9, and 1.10.8, two authorization flaws in the `project-scoped RBAC API` let an authenticated user with delegated permission to manage a Project's `Roles` or `ServiceAccounts` confer permissions exceeding the user's own. A user authorized to edit `Roles` can create, replace, or add rules granting permissions not held by the user; a user authorized to edit a Role's ServiceAccount can bind an identity, including the user's own, to a more powerful Role. A Kargo Role comprises a `ServiceAccount, Role, and RoleBinding` in the Project namespace. Changes are written using the API server's broadly privileged credentials after only a coarse resource-kind edit check, rather than checking each permission being conferred. This permits escalation to Project-administrator access, disclosure of `Project Secrets` and credentials, and modification or deletion of Project resources. Stolen Git, container-registry, or Helm-registry credentials can extend confidentiality and integrity impacts to those external systems. Escalation remains limited to Projects where the attacker already has RBAC-management delegation and does not itself grant cluster-wide or cross-Project access. Default non-administrator roles do not permit these operations; exploitation requires an `administrator-created custom role` granting the relevant permissions and control of an account assigned that role. This issue is fixed in versions 1.8.14, 1.9.9, and 1.10.8.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| akuity | kargo | 0.6.0 to before 1.8.14; 1.9.0-rc.1 to before 1.9.9; 1.10.0-rc.1 to before 1.10.8 | 1.8.14, 1.9.9, 1.10.8 | Patch available | CNA |
- kargo Vendorakuity Affected 0.6.0 to before 1.8.14; 1.9.0-rc.1 to before 1.9.9; 1.10.0-rc.1 to before 1.10.8 Fixed in 1.8.14, 1.9.9, 1.10.8 Patch available CNA
Remediation
Upgrade Kargo to version 1.8.14, 1.9.9, or 1.10.8, matching the release line in use.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-30
- Fix · CNA kargo (akuity) Fixed in 1.8.14, 1.9.9, 1.10.8
Timeline
- 2026-10-30 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-61850
- 2026-11-05 CISA SSVC decision points changed
References
Other 9
- https://github.com/akuity/kargo/security/advisories/GHSA-wp4p-hr79-q4g8
- https://github.com/akuity/kargo/commit/19639678811b486bddb014dabb25397771f3941e
- https://github.com/akuity/kargo/commit/50d29c10153965114f903645c83eadbe7bf58d3f
- https://github.com/akuity/kargo/commit/5ab7c4216a4151f55ea8ef9ff3b9f884dd322578
- https://github.com/akuity/kargo/commit/72fadd3600b35e6dce67042eb686720a48b45fa3
- https://github.com/akuity/kargo/releases/tag/v1.10.8
- https://github.com/akuity/kargo/releases/tag/v1.11.0-rc.1
- https://github.com/akuity/kargo/releases/tag/v1.8.14
- https://github.com/akuity/kargo/releases/tag/v1.9.9
More akuity vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-21564 Kargo has an Authorization Bypass Vulnerability in Batch Resource Creation API Endpoints CVSS 4.0CRITICAL 9.4
- TI-2026-19953 Kargo's `GetConfig()` and `RefreshResource()` API endpoints allow unauthenticated access CVSS 4.0MEDIUM 6.9
- TI-2026-21563 Kargo has Missing Authorization Vulnerabilities in Approval & Promotion REST API Endpoints CVSS 4.0MEDIUM 5.3
- TI-2026-30652 Kargo: Open Redirect in UI OIDC Login Flow via redirectTo Query Parameter CVSS 4.0MEDIUM 5.1
- TI-2026-25295 Kargo: SSRF in Promotion http/http-download Steps Enables Internal Network Access and Data Exfiltration CVSS 4.0MEDIUM 5.1
Sources
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences