Vulnerability · Published Nov 5, 2026 · Assigned by VulnCheck

CVE-2026-122304Kyverno 1.17.0 before 1.19.2 Privilege Escalation via CleanupPolicy Context Loader

Critical 9.9

In plain English

A critical-severity incorrect authorization in kyverno from kyverno. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.4% (higher than 34% of all known vulnerabilities).

Severity (CVSS 3.1)9.9Critical

Exploit odds (30 days)0.4%top 66.5% of all CVEs

Exploited in the wildNo reportsnot in CISA KEV

Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

Kyverno from 1.17.0 before 1.19.2 contains an authorization bypass vulnerability that allows namespace admins to escape namespace confinement because the cleanup controller builds its context loader with a nil policy. Attackers can create a namespaced CleanupPolicy with apiCall or globalReference context entries to read cross-namespace Secrets and modify validatingwebhookconfigurations using the cleanup controller's ServiceAccount.

Affected products (as reported)

Vendor	Product	Versions
kyverno	kyverno	1.17.0 – before 1.19.2

Weakness: CWE-863 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

References

GitHub Security Advisory (GHSA-p58h-r4j3-h5vx) vendor-advisory
GitHub Security Advisory (GHSA-rcxg-3f92-3mgr) vendor-advisory
VulnCheck Advisory: Kyverno 1.17.0 before 1.19.2 Privilege Escalation via CleanupPolicy Context Loader third-party-advisory