Critical Privilege escalation

CVE-2026-73269 — Cluster-curator-controller: cluster-curator-controller: tenant-controllable trigger creates clusterrolebinding granting cluster-wide secrets access to namespace-local sa

A flaw was found in the cluster-curator-controller component. A local user, by creating a ClusterCurator resource with a specific naming convention, can trigger the creation of a cluster-scoped ClusterRoleBinding. This allows the user to escalate their privileges from namespace-local access to cluster-wide control. This privilege escalation grants broad permissions, including the ability to access and manipulate secrets, manage cluster actions, and delete hosted clusters or node pools.

Published Aug 12, 2026 · Updated Oct 15, 2026 · Sources: NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP · CNA: redhat

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

Technical severity (critical)+10

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

—

No EPSS score.

Affects

Red Hat

multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.10 and 5 more

CVSS base

9.9

Critical · 2 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

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.

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 (Red Hat multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.10, Red Hat multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.11, Red Hat multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.17…).
No fix documented in the sources: reduce exposure and monitor the vendor advisory.
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.

Vendor	Product	Versions	Status	Source
Red Hat	multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.10	versions not specified by the source	Vulnerable	CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Red Hat	multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.11	versions not specified by the source	Vulnerable	CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Red Hat	multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.17	versions not specified by the source	Vulnerable	CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Red Hat	multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.6	versions not specified by the source	Vulnerable	CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Red Hat	multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.8	versions not specified by the source	Vulnerable	CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Red Hat	multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.9	versions not specified by the source	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.

Score	Version	Severity	Expl.	Impact	Scored by
9.9	CVSS 3.1	Critical	3.1	6.0	secalert@redhat.com via NIST National Vulnerability Database
9.9	CVSS 3.1	Critical	—	—	redhat via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H (score shown at the top: secalert@redhat.com)

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-269 · Improper Privilege Management

Other CVEs with this weakness →

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

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

2026
Affected products added · red hat/multicluster engine for kubernetes 2.10, red hat/multicluster engine for kubernetes 2.11, red hat/multicluster e
Oct 15, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
SSVC assessment updated
Oct 15, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Record published
Oct 15, 2026
CVSS changed · 9.9
Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
Source status changed · → Awaiting Analysis
Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
Record created in this database
Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
CVE published
Aug 12, 2026 · redhat

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

1× Official description updated · Oct 15, 2026 – Oct 15, 2026

References

8 on the record

bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi
issue-tracking, x_refsource_REDHAT, NIST National Vulnerability Database
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:59558
vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT, NIST National Vulnerability Database
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:59559
vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT, NIST National Vulnerability Database
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:59593
vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT, NIST National Vulnerability Database
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:59579
vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT, NIST National Vulnerability Database
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:59557
vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT, NIST National Vulnerability Database
access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-73269
vdb-entry, x_refsource_REDHAT, NIST National Vulnerability Database
access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:59556
vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT, NIST National Vulnerability Database

Elsewhere on this site

Red Hat
every CVE for this vendor

Privilege escalation
same class

CWE-269
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

High CVE-2026-73267 Clusterclaims-controller: managedcluster deletion keyed solely on clusterclaim.spec.namespace with no local ownership check Aug 21, 2026
High CVE-2026-75569 Mce-operator-bundle: all github actions pinned by mutable tag, not commit sha Aug 19, 2026
Critical CVE-2026-66794 Cluster-proxy-addon: cluster-proxy-addon: unauthenticated ssrf to arbitrary managed-cluster services via public route Aug 19, 2026
Critical CVE-2026-66795 Managedcluster-import-controller: csr auto-approver does not validate certificate subject or signername (spoke→hub cluster-admin) Aug 17, 2026
High CVE-2026-73266 Clusterclaims-controller: confused deputy: tenant-controlled clusterclaim labels propagated to managedcluster, enabling cross-tenant managedclusterset join Aug 13, 2026
Medium CVE-2026-19130 Provider-credential-controller: provider-credential-controller: cross-namespace credential propagation via attacker-controlled copiedfrom labels bypasses authorization Aug 12, 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 FIRST EPSS score.
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-2026-73269 is "Cluster-curator-controller: cluster-curator-controller: tenant-controllable trigger creates clusterrolebinding granting cluster-wide secrets access to namespace-local sa", rated Critical. It affects multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.10 (Red Hat); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 9.9 describes technical severity. 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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