Medium Access control

CVE-2026-31838 — Istio HTTP debug endpoints on port 15014 to enforce namespace-based authorization, preventing cross-namespace proxy data access.

Istio is an open platform to connect, manage, and secure microservices. Prior to 1.29.1, 1.28.5, and 1.27.8, a vulnerability in Envoy RBAC header matching could allow authorization policy bypass when policies rely on HTTP headers that may contain multiple values. An attacker could craft requests with multiple header values in a way that causes Envoy to evaluate the header differently than intended, potentially bypassing authorization checks. This may allow unauthorized requests to reach protected services when policies depend on such header-based matching conditions. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.29.1, 1.28.5, and 1.27.8.

Published Mar 10, 2026 · Updated Oct 13, 2026 · Sources: NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP · CNA: GitHub_M

Low

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 0.4% (30-day exploitation probability)+4
Technical severity (medium)+3
Automatable exploitation (SSVC)+3

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

0.37%

ahead of 30% of scored CVEs · Oct 15, 2026

Affects

Istio

CVSS base

5.3

Medium · 3 source(s)

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

None

none · proof-of-concept · active

Automatable

Yes

can an attacker script the kill-chain steps

Technical impact

Partial

partial · total control of the vulnerable component

Remediation

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

No fix documented by the sources we poll. That does not mean none exists: check the vendor advisory.

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.

Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Istio Istio).
The attack is network-based and needs no privileges: restrict exposure (ACLs, VPN, WAF) until patched.
No fix documented in the sources: reduce exposure and monitor the vendor advisory.
Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (access control), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

Vendor	Product	Versions	Status	Source
Istio	Istio	< 1.27.8≥ 1.28.0 and < 1.28.5≥ 1.29.0 and < 1.29.1	Vulnerable	NIST National Vulnerability Database
Istio	Istio	version >= 1.29.0-alpha.0, < 1.29.1version >= 1.28.0-alpha.0, < 1.28.5version < 1.27.8	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

None

User interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

Low

Integrity

None

Availability

None

Every base score collected

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

Score	Version	Severity	Expl.	Impact	Scored by
6.9	CVSS 4.0	Medium	—	—	security-advisories@github.com via NIST National Vulnerability Database
6.9	CVSS 4.0	Medium	—	—	GitHub_M via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
5.3	CVSS 3.1	Medium	3.9	1.4	nvd@nist.gov via NIST National Vulnerability Database

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N (score shown at the top: nvd@nist.gov)

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-863 · Incorrect Authorization

Other CVEs with this weakness →

EPSS over time FIRST

Oct 13, 2026 → Oct 15, 2026 · 3 reading(s) · max 0.37%

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).
Audit administrative actions and access to resources outside each user’s normal pattern.

web/proxy/WAF logsnetwork IDS/IPSauthentication logsapplication logs

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

2026
Affected products added · istio/istio
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
CVSS changed · 5.3
Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
Source status changed · → Modified
Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
Record created in this database
Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
CVE published
Mar 10, 2026 · GitHub_M

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

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

References

2 on the record

github.com/istio/istio/security/advisories/GHSA-974c-2wxh-g4ww
Vendor Advisory, x_refsource_CONFIRM, NIST National Vulnerability Database
github.com/istio/istio/commit/004fd6921314a8e2293fd195d91645dcbbff0aa1
x_refsource_MISC, NIST National Vulnerability Database

Elsewhere on this site

Istio
every CVE for this vendor

Access control
same class

CWE-863
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

High CVE-2026-41413 Istio Vulnerable to SSRF via RequestAuthentication jwksUri May 7, 2026
Medium CVE-2026-39350 Istio AuthorizationPolicy Incorrect Regex Matching of Dots in serviceAccounts Fields Allows Policy Bypass Apr 15, 2026
High CVE-2026-31837 Istio JWKS resolver to prevent private key material from being exposed when JWKS fetch fails. Mar 10, 2026
High CVE-2023-44487 HTTP/2 Rapid Reset Attack Vulnerability KEV Oct 10, 2023

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 fixed version, patch or mitigation documented.
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-2026-31838 is "Istio HTTP debug endpoints on port 15014 to enforce namespace-based authorization, preventing cross-namespace proxy data access.", rated Medium. It affects Istio (Istio); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 5.3 describes technical severity. EPSS 0.37% 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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