Mirror-target annotation in ingress-nginx lets users drop all traffic
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · None · Low
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA.
Summary
Kubernetes ingress-nginx is affected in all versions, and SUSE Rancher Prime RKE2 ingress-nginx is affected before 1.15.2-prime1. Due to a missing check (CWE-20), the mirror-target Ingress annotation reaches an unauthenticated configuration API in the controller, which accepts write commands. A user who can create an Ingress can corrupt that data and drop all traffic through ingress-nginx until the Ingress configuration changes or the controller restarts.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-07
Description from the CNA
A security issue was discovered in ingress-nginx where a user with permission to create an Ingress may be able to cause denial of service of the ingress-nginx data plane, or possibly redirect traffic from other Ingresses. Kubernetes clusters are only affected if they are using ingress-nginx. Due to a missing check, the mirror-target Ingress annotation can be used to target an unauthenticated configuration API within the ingress-nginx controller, allowing write commands to be submitted. Corrupting the data within that configuration API results in all traffic through ingress-nginx being dropped until an Ingress configuration change or a controller restart causes the data to be recreated correctly. In principle, this write access could also be used to redirect traffic from other Ingresses controlled by the same ingress-nginx instance. In practice, there is negligible additional risk: such redirection would require privileged information about internal ingress-nginx state, and users can already redirect traffic from other Ingresses controlled by the same ingress-nginx anyway.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kubernetes | ingress-nginx | all versions | — | No fix listed | CNA |
| SUSE | Rancher Prime RKE2 ingress-nginx | before 1.15.2-prime1 | 1.15.2-prime1 | Patch available | CNA |
- ingress-nginx VendorKubernetes Affected all versions Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
- Rancher Prime RKE2 ingress-nginx VendorSUSE Affected before 1.15.2-prime1 Fixed in 1.15.2-prime1 Patch available CNA
Remediation
Upgrade SUSE Rancher Prime RKE2 ingress-nginx to 1.15.2-prime1 or later. The sources list no fixed version for Kubernetes ingress-nginx.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-07
- Fix · CNA Rancher Prime RKE2 ingress-nginx (SUSE) Fixed in 1.15.2-prime1
Vendor assessments
Timeline
- 2026-11-05 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-116472
- 2026-11-05 Alias added: GHSA-xhjh-q6rj-vw2f
- 2026-11-07 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-11-07 CVSS score added · Red Hat
References
More Kubernetes vulnerabilities
- TI-2025-01719 ingress-nginx admission controller RCE escalation CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2018-16130 Improper privilege management in Kubernetes CVSS 3.0CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2025-00932 ingress-nginx controller - configuration injection via unsanitized mirror annotations CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2019-08418 Kubernetes kubelet exposes /debug/pprof info on healthz port CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.2
- TI-2026-02839 ingress-nginx rewrite-target nginx configuration injection CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2025-18233 ingress-nginx controller - configuration injection via unsanitized auth-url annotation CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
Sources
- CVE-2026-116472 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-116472 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-xhjh-q6rj-vw2f · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-116472 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences