Temporal Server k8s compute provider lets callers run host commands
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Attack requirements
- None
- Impact type
- Code execution, Security bypass
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 1 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-78 and CWE-863.
Summary
Temporal Server from 1.31.0 before 1.31.5 and from 1.32.0 before 1.32.2 is affected. The k8s compute provider builds its Kubernetes client from caller-supplied configuration, which can run a caller-chosen command on the Worker Service host (CWE-78). An authenticated caller with only a read role in one namespace can trigger this through ValidateWorkerDeploymentVersionComputeConfig, and the command runs under the server account, which holds persistence credentials for every namespace.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06
Description from the CNA
Temporal Server compiles a Worker Controller Instance module, go.temporal.io/auto-scaled-workers, into its Worker Service, and that module registers a compute provider named k8s whose function is to manage workers running in a Kubernetes cluster. The k8s provider built its Kubernetes client from the client configuration supplied in the caller's request rather than from operator configuration, and building and using that client could run a command of the caller's choosing on the Worker Service host, under the account the server process runs as. Two frontend operations reach the provider. CreateWorkerDeploymentVersion requires a namespace write role. ValidateWorkerDeploymentVersionComputeConfig is registered as a read-only namespace operation, so an authenticated caller holding only a read role in a single namespace can reach the provider through it, and that route does not require a worker deployment to already exist. Execution happens while the submitted configuration is validated, so no scaling decision, task arrival, or unusual request sequence is required. Because the Worker Service process holds the persistence credentials for every namespace in the cluster and the cluster's TLS material, the consequence reaches beyond the caller's namespace to the cluster as a whole. The provider is present in the official temporal-server binaries and container images for the affected releases. The control that keeps it unreachable is the compute provider allowlist, the dynamic configuration setting workercontroller.compute_providers.enabled. On Temporal Server 1.31.0 through 1.31.2 that allowlist does not deny by default: when the setting is unset the check is skipped and every registered compute provider is permitted, k8s included, so a stock deployment of those releases is exposed. On 1.31.3 and later 1.31 releases, and on 1.32.0 and later 1.32 releases, the allowlist denies by default, and a deployment is exposed only where k8s has been added to it. The 1.30 release line does not include the Worker Controller Instance module and is unaffected. To determine whether a deployment is affected, check the following together. The deployed Temporal Server version is in an affected range. The Worker Service is running, which it is in the default service set and therefore in a stock deployment. The effective value of workercontroller.compute_providers.enabled contains k8s, or, on 1.31.0 through 1.31.2 only, is unset; check both the global value and every namespace-constrained override, because an override can add k8s for a single namespace. And authorization is configured, meaning a real authorizer and claim mapper are in place; a deployment running with no authorizer already grants every caller unrestricted access to every namespace, so it has no namespace boundary for this to cross. Deployments that use a custom authorizer should also check whether it permits ValidateWorkerDeploymentVersionComputeConfig to callers without namespace write access. The separate per-namespace dynamic configuration setting workercontroller.enabled does not gate the affected path on any affected release.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Temporal Technologies, Inc. | Temporal Server | 1.31.0 to before 1.31.5; 1.32.0 to before 1.32.2 | 1.31.5, 1.32.2 | Patch available | CNA |
- Temporal Server VendorTemporal Technologies, Inc. Affected 1.31.0 to before 1.31.5; 1.32.0 to before 1.32.2 Fixed in 1.31.5, 1.32.2 Patch available CNA
Remediation
Upgrade Temporal Server to version 1.31.5 or 1.32.2. The sources list no fixed version for Ansible Automation Orchestrator 2026.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06
- Fix · CNA Temporal Server (Temporal Technologies, Inc.) Fixed in 1.31.5, 1.32.2
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Important. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Ansible Automation Orchestrator 2026 | Affected | No fix yet |
Timeline
- 2026-11-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-120091
- 2026-11-03 Alias added: GHSA-r7j7-m32j-h8w5
- 2026-11-04 Priority changed: MEDIUM → LOW
- 2026-11-06 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-11-06 CVSS score added · Red Hat
- 2026-11-06 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-11-06 Priority changed: LOW → MEDIUM
References
More Temporal Technologies, Inc. vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-63861 s2s-proxy accepts untrusted client certificates CVSS 4.0CRITICAL 9.3
- TI-2026-46800 temporalio/tchannel-go zero-chunk call fragment causes process termination CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.7
- TI-2026-46799 temporalio/tchannel-go malformed checksum type causes process termination CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.7
- TI-2026-46801 temporalio/ringpop-go fails to enforce configured label limits on inbound membership gossip CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.7
- TI-2026-13897 temporalio/sqlparser malformed MySQL version comments can cause a panic CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.7
- TI-2026-60383 Temporal Server worker deployment compute provider executes a caller-supplied command on the Worker Service host CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.7
Sources
- CVE-2026-120091 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-120091 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-r7j7-m32j-h8w5 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-120091 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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