Bug 2524413 (CVE-2026-54523)

Summary: CVE-2026-54523 github.com/kyverno/kyverno: kyverno: Kyverno: NamespacedGeneratingPolicy generator.apply() namespace argument unvalidated -- background controller creates RoleBindings in any namespace including kube-system
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerability-draftAssignee: Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
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Priority: high    
Version: unspecifiedCC: gbenhaim, niyer, twaugh
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Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
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A flaw was found in Kyverno, a policy engine for cloud-native platforms. A user with specific permissions to create policy objects in one area (namespace) can exploit a vulnerability where a namespace argument is not properly checked. This allows them to force the system's admission controller, which has broad access, to create resources like user role assignments (RoleBindings) in other restricted areas. This can lead to unauthorized changes and potentially elevate their access privileges within the system.
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-08-26 14:39:21 UTC 
Kyverno is a policy engine designed for cloud native platform engineering teams. From 1.18.0 until 1.18.2, the NamespacedMutatingPolicy CEL compiler exposes the generator library to matchConditions, allowing a namespace-scoped policy to invoke generator.apply(namespace, resources) with an arbitrary target namespace. The validation in pkg/cel/policies/mpol/validate.go checks that the policy compiles but does not enforce namespace scope, and GenerateResources in pkg/cel/libs/context.go does not reject the cross-namespace target. A user who can create NamespacedMutatingPolicy objects in one namespace can cause the admission controller, operating with cluster-wide privileges, to create ConfigMaps, NetworkPolicies, Secrets, RoleBindings, and other resources in another namespace, enabling unauthorized modification and potential privilege escalation. This issue is fixed in version 1.18.2.