Is CVE-2026-42876 actively exploited?

No active exploitation of CVE-2026-42876 has been confirmed so far. Continue monitoring, as exploit status can change.

Can CVE-2026-42876 be exploited remotely?

Yes. CVE-2026-42876 is exploitable remotely over the network (CVSS attack vector: Network).

What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-42876?

CVE-2026-42876 has a CVSS score of 4.9 (MEDIUM).

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MEDIUM

CVE-2026-42876

CWE-285Published: May 11, 2026· Updated: May 13, 2026

4.9

CVSS v3.1

EPSS:0.02%probability of exploitation in 30 daysPercentile:5.8th

Official Description

External Secrets Operator reads information from a third-party service and automatically injects the values as Kubernetes Secrets. Prior to 2.4.1, a user who only has permission to create ExternalSecret resources can cause the operator to create a Secret that Kubernetes will automatically populate with a long-lived token for the specified service account. This effectively allows the user to impersonate any service account in the namespace without needing direct create permissions on TokenRequest or Secrets of that type. This vulnerability is fixed in 2.4.1.

NVD Source

Technical Analysis

CVE-2026-42876 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.

The vulnerability has a "Changed" scope, meaning successful exploitation can impact components beyond the vulnerable component itself — such as the host operating system or adjacent services.