CVE-2026-55225
Strimzi: Cross-namespace privilege escalation via `Kafka.spec.entityOperator`
- State
- Published
- Severity
- 8.0 High
- Published
- Sep 15, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 16, 2026
- Reserved
- Jun 16, 2026
Description
Strimzi provides a way to run an Apache Kafka cluster on Kubernetes or OpenShift in various deployment configurations. In Strimzi 1.0.0 and earlier, an attacker who can create a Kafka custom resource can set Kafka.spec.entityOperator watchedNamespace to a target namespace, causing the Cluster Operator to create a Role with full Secret CRUD permissions there and bind it to the Entity Operator ServiceAccount in the attacker's namespace. The attacker can mint a token for that ServiceAccount and read or write Secrets in any target namespace where the Cluster Operator has been granted permissions, regardless of STRIMZI_NAMESPACE. This issue is fixed in versions 1.0.1 and 1.1.0.
Scores
| CVSS | Score | Vector | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | 8.0 High | CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H | GitHub_M |
| 3.1 | 8.0 High | CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H | redhat-SADP |
Weaknesses
Affected Products
| Product | Versions |
|---|---|
strimzi-kafka-operatorstrimzi |
|
References
- https://github.com/strimzi/strimzi-kafka-operator/security/advisories/GHSA-mw9r-p8xp-wx96
- https://github.com/strimzi/strimzi-kafka-operator/pull/12844
- https://github.com/strimzi/strimzi-kafka-operator/commit/b3bfeffcc30754c3e62e6f4afd8a76942cac440d
- https://github.com/strimzi/strimzi-kafka-operator/commit/f6c5207ba7ec89b46ce6720b8638d647e556a261
- https://github.com/strimzi/strimzi-kafka-operator/releases/tag/1.0.1
- https://github.com/strimzi/strimzi-kafka-operator/releases/tag/1.1.0
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-55225vdb-entry
- RHBZ#2490275issue-tracking
- https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-55225.json
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:54435vendor-advisory
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