HOMEVULNERABILITIESCVE-2026-42541
MEDIUM

CVE-2026-42541

CWE-862Published: May 12, 2026· Updated: May 13, 2026

4.3
CVSS v3.1
EPSS:0.02%probability of exploitation in 30 daysPercentile:5.9th

Official Description

Kubewarden is a policy engine for Kubernetes. Prior to , An attacker with privileged AdmissionPolicy or AdmissionPolicyGroup create permissions (which isn't the default) can craft a policy that makes use of the can_i host callback. The callback issues a SubjectAccessReview (SAR) requests to enumerate RBAC permissions of any user or service account across the cluster. can_i does not perform that check to enforce the context-aware allow-list and forwards the request directly to the callback handler, which executes a real SubjectAccessReview using policy-server privileges. This creates a policy-level authorization gap: can_i is effectively usable even when the policy has no context-aware resource grant. This is an information disclosure / reconnaissance issue, and not direct workload data exfiltration. The attacker learns permission information, such as whether specific service accounts can "get secrets", "create pods", or "bind clusterroles" in chosen namespaces. This vulnerability is fixed in .

NVD Source

Technical Analysis

CVE-2026-42541 can be exploited remotely over the network without requiring physical or adjacent access, significantly expanding the attack surface for threat actors.

Exploitation requires low privileges, which limits the exposure to scenarios where an attacker has already gained initial access.

CVSS v3.1 Vector Breakdown

Exploitability
Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges Req.Low
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged
Impact
ConfidentialityLow
IntegrityNone
AvailabilityNone
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N

Affected Vendors & Products

Mentioned vendors (from description):
Kubernetes
CPE data not yet available in NVD for this CVE.

Exploit & PoC Resources

NO KNOWN EXPLOITNo public exploit confirmed at this time
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All References (1)

Quick Facts

CVE IDCVE-2026-42541
CVSS Score4.3 / 10
SeverityMEDIUM
WeaknessCWE-862
CISA KEVNo
EPSS (30d)0.02%
PublishedMay 12, 2026

Related CVEs (CWE-862)

Recommended Actions

  • Apply vendor patches immediately
  • Monitor CVE-2026-42541 in threat intel feeds
  • Review IDS/IPS signatures for exploitation attempts
Data sourced from NVD (NIST), CISA KEV, and EPSS (FIRST). Analysis generated by CTIWATCH.COM. CVE data is provided under the NVD usage policy.