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Missing authorization in Kyverno lets tenants modify other namespaces

Priority LOW 36CWE-862Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Network
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Attack requirements
None
Impact type
Security bypass
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
Low · High · None
Fix status
Fixed

Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-862.

Summary

Kyverno from 1.17.0 before 1.19.2 has a missing authorization check in its mutate-existing background processor. A namespaced tenant with low privileges can modify resources outside its namespace (CWE-862). A policy targeting Namespace objects can make the background-controller ServiceAccount strip Pod Security labels cluster-wide.

Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06

Description from the CNA

Kyverno from 1.17.0 before 1.19.2 contains a missing authorization vulnerability in the mutate-existing background processor that allows namespaced tenants to modify resources outside their namespace. Attackers can create a NamespacedMutatingPolicy targeting Namespace objects or victim-namespace resources via CEL expressions, making the background-controller ServiceAccount strip Pod Security labels cluster-wide.

Why it matters now

EPSS 0.00168 6th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Fixed kyverno (kyverno): 1.19.2

SSVC decision points

Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
kyvernokyverno1.17.0 to before 1.19.21.19.2Patch availableCNA
  • kyverno Vendorkyverno Affected 1.17.0 to before 1.19.2 Fixed in 1.19.2 Patch available CNA

Remediation

Upgrade Kyverno to version 1.19.2.

Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-06

  • Fix · CNA kyverno (kyverno) Fixed in 1.19.2

Fixed in the same release

Records fixed by the same vendor advisory or release, as the CNA lists them.

  • Release ·

    kyverno 1.19.2

    21 records Highest priority Priority MEDIUM 6 MEDIUM, 15 LOW

    Other records, highest priority first

    • TI-2026-85289 Kyverno path traversal in namespaced CEL policies reaches cluster objectsPriority MEDIUM 41
    • TI-2026-85282 Authorization bypass in Kyverno lets namespace admins read SecretsPriority MEDIUM 41
    • TI-2026-85291 Privilege escalation in Kyverno lets tenants mutate other namespacesPriority MEDIUM 40

Vendor assessments

Red Hat

Red Hat's page for this CVE →

Not affected: 1 product
  • Red Hat

Timeline

  1. 2026-11-05 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-122316
  2. 2026-11-05 Alias added: GHSA-w3hj-rrr2-7gpp
  3. 2026-11-06 Priority changed: MEDIUM → LOW
  4. 2026-11-06 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
  5. 2026-11-06 CVSS score added · Red Hat

References

  • TI-2024-32618 Kyverno's PolicyException objects can be created in any namespace by default CVSS 4.0HIGH 8.7
  • TI-2026-57895 Kyverno before v1.13.0 Policy Bypass via Multiple Exceptions CVSS 4.0CRITICAL 9.4
  • TI-2026-39369 Missing authorization in kyverno CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.6
  • 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
See all 52 →

Sources