CVE-2026-40868
highpriority · track · 0EPSS 0.003 · 21 %ileDEEUUSEPSS · scored 2026-10-27
Kyverno is a policy engine designed for cloud native platform engineering teams. Prior to 1.16.4, kyverno’s apiCall servicecall helper implicitly injects Authorization: Bearer ... using the kyverno controller serviceaccount token when a policy does not explicitly set an Authorization header. Because context.apiCall.service.url is policy-controlled, this can send the kyverno serviceaccount token to an attacker-controlled endpoint (confused deputy). Namespaced policies are blocked from servicecall usage by the namespaced urlPath gate in pkg/engine/apicall/apiCall.go, so this report is scoped to ClusterPolicy and global context usage. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.16.4.
cvss
Technical severity, 0–10. One row per scoring source.
base score 0–10 · higher = more severe · hover a vector to decode
ssvc
A stakeholder decision — act, attend, or track — from exploitation and impact.
weaknesses
The CWE weakness classes this flaw belongs to.
affected products (6)
Products and version ranges known to be affected.
advisories (4)
Vendor and ecosystem advisories describing this.
- WID-SEC-W-2026-1152Kyverno: Mehrere SchwachstellenDeutsch2026-04-15csaf · cert_bundDE
Ein entfernter, authentisierter Angreifer kann mehrere Schwachstellen in Kyverno ausnutzen, um Informationen offenzulegen, Sicherheitsmaßnahmen zu umgehen, Daten zu manipulieren und erweiterte Berechtigungen zu erlangen.
- GHSA-q93q-v844-jrqpkyverno apicall servicecall implicit bearer token injection leaks kyverno serviceaccount token2026-04-14ghsa · osvUS
kyverno’s apiCall servicecall helper implicitly injects `Authorization: Bearer ...` using the kyverno controller serviceaccount token when a policy does not explicitly set an Authorization header. because `context.apiCall.service.url` is policy-controlled, this can send the kyverno serviceaccount token to an attacker-controlled endpoint (confused deputy). namespaced policies are blocked from servicecall usage by the namespaced `urlPath` gate in `pkg/engine/apicall/apiCall.go`, so this report is scoped to ClusterPolicy and global context usage. ## attacker model the attacker can create or update a ClusterPolicy (or create a GlobalContextEntry) which uses `context.apiCall.service.url` and can choose the request URL and headers. a cross-boundary framing for real deployments is gitops: if the policy repo/controller is compromised, the ClusterPolicy/global context entry becomes untrusted input to kyverno. ## relevant links - repository: https://github.com/kyverno/kyverno - commit: 17aeb52337fd66adb0c8126213ba076612a287a7 - callsite (token injection): https://github.com/kyverno/kyverno/blob/17aeb52337fd66adb0c8126213ba076612a287a7/pkg/engine/apicall/executor.go#L150-L173 - namespaced policy gate (servicecall blocked): https://github.com/kyverno/kyverno/blob/17aeb52337fd66adb0c8126213ba076612a287a7/pkg/engine/apicall/apiCall.go#L67-L83 ## root cause in `(*executor).addHTTPHeaders`, kyverno reads the serviceaccount token from `/var/run/secrets/kubernetes.io/serviceaccount/token` and injects it when the outgoing request has no Authorization header: ```go if req.Header.Get("Authorization") == "" { token := a.getToken() if token != "" { req.Header.Add("Authorization", "Bearer "+token) } } ``` ## proof of concept the attached `poc.zip` is a reproducible cluster PoC. it uses an in-cluster HTTP receiver which logs the Authorization header it receives. the PoC does not print token bytes; it only checks that the received header is non-empty and not equal to the negative control. run (one command): ```bash unzip poc.zip -d poc cd poc make test ``` canonical (expected: implicit token injection): ```bash unzip poc.zip -d poc cd poc make canonical ``` expected output includes: ``` [CALLSITE_HIT]: executor.addHTTPHeaders Authorization=="" -> read_serviceaccount_token=true [PROOF_MARKER]: authorization_header_injected=true token_nonempty=true ``` control (expected: explicit Authorization header disables auto-injection): ```bash unzip poc.zip -d poc cd poc make control ``` expected output includes: ``` [CALLSITE_HIT]: executor.addHTTPHeaders Authorization!="" -> autoinject_skipped=true [NC_MARKER]: authorization_header_injected=false ``` optional: the canonical run may also print an `[RBAC]: ...` line using `kubectl auth can-i` with the exfiltrated token, to show concrete privileges without exposing the token. ## impact token exfiltration: the kyverno controller serviceaccount token is sent to a policy-controlled endpoint. impact depends on the rbac bound to that serviceaccount in the target deployment. ## recommended fix do not auto-inject the kyverno serviceaccount token into policy-controlled servicecall requests. require explicit Authorization configuration, or enforce a strict allowlist of destinations where credentials may be attached and document the behavior. ## workarounds - avoid using servicecall to arbitrary urls in policies. - set an explicit Authorization header in servicecall policies to prevent implicit token injection. [poc.zip](https://github.com/user-attachments/files/25352288/poc.zip) [PR_DESCRIPTION.md](https://github.com/user-attachments/files/25352289/PR_DESCRIPTION.md) oleh
- BIT-kyverno-2026-40868kyverno apicall servicecall implicit bearer token injection leaks kyverno serviceaccount token2026-04-23vendor · osvUS
Kyverno is a policy engine designed for cloud native platform engineering teams. Prior to 1.16.4, kyverno’s apiCall servicecall helper implicitly injects Authorization: Bearer ... using the kyverno controller serviceaccount token when a policy does not explicitly set an Authorization header. Because context.apiCall.service.url is policy-controlled, this can send the kyverno serviceaccount token to an attacker-controlled endpoint (confused deputy). Namespaced policies are blocked from servicecall usage by the namespaced urlPath gate in pkg/engine/apicall/apiCall.go, so this report is scoped to ClusterPolicy and global context usage. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.16.4.
- GO-2026-5575kyverno apicall servicecall implicit bearer token injection leaks kyverno serviceaccount token in github.com/kyverno/kyverno2026-06-25vendor · osvUS
kyverno apicall servicecall implicit bearer token injection leaks kyverno serviceaccount token in github.com/kyverno/kyverno
also known as (5)
Other names and identifiers for this entity.
- CNNVD-202604-4021cnnvd
- EUVD-2026-24237enisa_euvd
- BIT-kyverno-2026-40868osv
- GHSA-q93q-v844-jrqposv
- GO-2026-5575osv
sources
Which sources assert this record, and when.
references (5)
External citations — patches, advisories, analysis.
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2026-40868cnnvd
- https://kyverno.io/Patchcnnvd
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-40868cnnvd
- https://github.com/kyverno/kyverno/security/advisories/GHSA-q93q-v844-jrqpenisa_euvd
- https://github.com/kyverno/kyverno/security/advisories/GHSA-q93q-v844-jrqpExploitMitigationVendor Advisorynvd
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