CVE Explorer
CVE-2026-42876
External Secrets Operator reads information from a third-party service and automatically injects the values as Kubernetes Secrets. Prior to 2.4.1, a user who only has permission to create ExternalSecret resources can cause the operator to create a Secret that Kubernetes will automatically populate with a long-lived token for the specified service account. This effectively allows the user to impersonate any service account in the namespace without needing direct create permissions on TokenRequest
Known exploited
Not asserted
Disputed
No
Stale source
No
Conflicts
0
Affected products and versions
1 source assertion{"product":"external-secrets","vendor":"external-secrets","versions":[{"status":"affected","version":"< 2.4.1"}]}
- cve_program_cvelist_v5affectedurn:baitaphish:normalized-source-record:v2:838c9057f0e61e1af8ef7a8e928d42e40acfa7fcd3bd415dbc616add88abcff6 · sha256:c256b3ed2043a678… · /containers/cna/affected/0
Provider-owned CVSS observations
1 source assertion{"metric":{"attackComplexity":"HIGH","attackVector":"NETWORK","availabilityImpact":"NONE","baseScore":4.9,"baseSeverity":"MEDIUM","confidentialityImpact":"LOW","integrityImpact":"LOW","privilegesRequired":"LOW","scope":"CHANGED","userInteraction":"NONE","vectorString":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N","version":"3.1"},"metric_type":"cvssV3_1"}
- cve_program_cvelist_v5cvssurn:baitaphish:normalized-source-record:v2:838c9057f0e61e1af8ef7a8e928d42e40acfa7fcd3bd415dbc616add88abcff6 · sha256:c256b3ed2043a678… · /containers/cna/metrics/0/cvssV3_1
CWE assertions
1 source assertion{"cweId":"CWE-285","description":"CWE-285: Improper Authorization","lang":"en","type":"CWE"}
- cve_program_cvelist_v5cweurn:baitaphish:normalized-source-record:v2:838c9057f0e61e1af8ef7a8e928d42e40acfa7fcd3bd415dbc616add88abcff6 · sha256:c256b3ed2043a678… · /containers/cna/problemTypes/0/descriptions/0
Source references
3 source assertions{"name":"https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/commit/4ddd240af7fe88725d9857b9a0c198073502e288","tags":["x_refsource_MISC"],"url":"https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/commit/4ddd240af7fe88725d9857b9a0c198073502e288"}
- cve_program_cvelist_v5referenceurn:baitaphish:normalized-source-record:v2:838c9057f0e61e1af8ef7a8e928d42e40acfa7fcd3bd415dbc616add88abcff6 · sha256:c256b3ed2043a678… · /containers/cna/references/1
{"name":"https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/releases/tag/v2.4.1","tags":["x_refsource_MISC"],"url":"https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/releases/tag/v2.4.1"}
- cve_program_cvelist_v5referenceurn:baitaphish:normalized-source-record:v2:838c9057f0e61e1af8ef7a8e928d42e40acfa7fcd3bd415dbc616add88abcff6 · sha256:c256b3ed2043a678… · /containers/cna/references/2
{"name":"https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/security/advisories/GHSA-fq7h-9x26-6j22","tags":["x_refsource_CONFIRM"],"url":"https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/security/advisories/GHSA-fq7h-9x26-6j22"}
- cve_program_cvelist_v5referenceurn:baitaphish:normalized-source-record:v2:838c9057f0e61e1af8ef7a8e928d42e40acfa7fcd3bd415dbc616add88abcff6 · sha256:c256b3ed2043a678… · /containers/cna/references/0
Attribution and limitations
- CVE Program CVEList V5: Reproduce the MITRE copyright designation and CVE license in copies. Source →
Provider severity values are preserved separately. Baitaphish does not convert them into a risk rating, infer affected products, or treat EPSS as observed exploitation.