CVE Intelligence
Critical Privilege escalation exploit reference

CVE-2026-22039 — Kyverno Policy apiCall Authorization Boundary Bypass

Kyverno is a policy engine designed for cloud native platform engineering teams. Versions prior to 1.16.3 and 1.15.3 have a critical authorization boundary bypass in namespaced Kyverno Policy apiCall. The resolved `urlPath` is executed using the Kyverno admission controller ServiceAccount, with no enforcement that the request is limited to the policy’s namespace. As a result, any authenticated user with permission to create a namespaced Policy can cause Kyverno to perform Kubernetes API requests using Kyverno’s admission controller identity, targeting any API path allowed by that ServiceAccount’s RBAC. This breaks namespace isolation by enabling cross-namespace reads (for example, ConfigMaps and, where permitted, Secrets) and allows cluster-scoped or cross-namespace writes (for example, creating ClusterPolicies) by controlling the urlPath through context variable substitution. Versions 1.16.3 and 1.15.3 contain a patch for the vulnerability.

Published Jan 27, 2026 · Updated Oct 13, 2026 · Sources: NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP · CNA: GitHub_M

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

No exploitation signal in the sources consulted so far.
How the score was calculated
  • EPSS 0.6% (30-day exploitation probability)+7
  • Technical severity (critical)+10
  • CISA SSVC: exploitation "poc"+5

The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

Exploitation
Not confirmed
Not in CISA KEV — an absence of record, not proof it is unexploited.
EPSS FIRST
0.58%
ahead of 47% of scored CVEs · Oct 14, 2026
Affects
Kyverno
Kyverno
CVSS base
9.9
Critical · 2 source(s)
Prioritization reference: 10.0 provisional

CISA SSVC assessment CISA

Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.

Exploitation
Proof of concept
none · proof-of-concept · active
Automatable
No
can an attacker script the kill-chain steps
Technical impact
Total
partial · total control of the vulnerable component

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

  • Documented patch — github.com (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
  • Documented patch — github.com (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
  • Documented mitigation — github.com (NIST National Vulnerability Database)

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

  1. Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Kyverno Kyverno).
  2. Apply the fixed version or the patch documented under Remediation.
  3. Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (privilege escalation), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

VendorProductVersionsStatusSource
Kyverno Kyverno < 1.15.3≥ 1.16.0 and < 1.16.3 Vulnerable NIST National Vulnerability Database
Kyverno Kyverno version < 1.15.3version >= 1.16.0, < 1.16.3 Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

ScoreVersionSeverityExpl.ImpactScored by
10.0 CVSS 3.1 Critical — — GitHub_M via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
9.9 CVSS 3.1 Critical 3.1 6.0 security-advisories@github.com via NIST National Vulnerability Database
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H (score shown at the top: security-advisories@github.com)

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-269 · Improper Privilege Management

Other CVEs with this weakness →

EPSS over time FIRST

Oct 13, 2026 → Oct 14, 2026 · 2 reading(s) · max 0.58%

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

  • Prioritize edge telemetry for the network-reachable component (proxy, WAF, IDS/IPS).
web/proxy/WAF logsnetwork IDS/IPS

Analysis and videos

CVE-2026-22039: Kyverno Policy apiCall Authorization Boundary Bypass
Kyverno versions before 1.15.3 and from 1.16.0 before 1.16.3 allow a user who can create namespaced Policies to make the admission controller ServiceAccount perform Kubernetes API requests beyond the policy's namespace. The record rates the issue critical, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.9, and classifies it as CWE-269. Fixed releases are 1.15.3 and 1.16.3.

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

  • 2026
  • Affected products added · kyverno/kyverno
    Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • SSVC assessment updated
    Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Record published
    Oct 13, 2026
  • Fix documented
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • CVSS changed · 9.9
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Source status changed · → Analyzed
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Record created in this database
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • CVE published
    Jan 27, 2026 · GitHub_M

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

  • 1× Official description updated · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026

References

3 on the record

Elsewhere on this site

Kyverno
every CVE for this vendor
Privilege escalation
same class
CWE-269
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

  • CVE-2026-84199 Kyverno before 1.16.2 SSRF via APICall Feature Sep 1, 2026
  • CVE-2026-84200 Kyverno before v1.13.0 Policy Bypass via Multiple Exceptions Sep 1, 2026
  • CVE-2026-84196 Kyverno before 1.18.0 Server-Side Request Forgery via apiCall Sep 1, 2026
  • CVE-2026-84195 Kyverno before 1.16.4 Credential Leak via apiCall Sep 1, 2026
  • CVE-2025-15613 Kyverno before v1.13.4 SSRF via Service Call Sep 1, 2026
  • CVE-2023-54356 Kyverno before 1.9.5 Sweet32 Medium Strength Cipher Suites Sep 1, 2026

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

  • No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
  • No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
  • No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2026-22039 is "Kyverno Policy apiCall Authorization Boundary Bypass", rated Critical. It affects Kyverno (Kyverno); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 9.9 describes technical severity. EPSS 0.58% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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