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Vulnerabilities

Vulnerability · CVE-2026-42876

External Secrets Operator reads information from a third-party service and automatically injects the values as Kubernetes Secrets.

Published May 11, 2026 · catalog updated Jun 17, 2026 · External Secrets Operator reads

Check if you run it

No confirmed exploitation is on record for CVE-2026-42876. EPSS is 0.26%. Act only if a listed version of External Secrets Operator reads is installed.

Gaps on this record

  • The stored product name is a package slug. The name on this page is taken from the title (External Secrets Operator reads).
  • No version range is stored. A customer cannot check an installed version against this record.
  • No vendor fix or required action is stored. Compare the linked advisory before you change production.
Severity
Medium4.9
Known exploitation
Not in CISA/VulnCheck KEV
EPSS
0.26%
Remediation
Advisory link
Affected products
See sources for product scope

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 or Secrets of that type. This vulnerability is fixed in 2.4.1.

No affected version ranges are stored yet. Use the vendor advisory before you decide this record does not apply.

How to fix CVE-2026-42876

What to do

Three questions, each answered from this record only. Confirm the vendor advisory before you patch.

Should you patch?

No confirmed exploitation is on record for CVE-2026-42876. EPSS is 0.26%. Act only if a listed version of External Secrets Operator reads is installed.

Which versions are affected?

Affected version ranges are not on this record. Compare the installed version with the linked vendor advisory before you change production.

What should an analyst verify?

CWE-285: Improper Authorization. EPSS 0.26%. There is no CISA KEV listing. No Exploit-DB or Metasploit reference is linked. Use the source links for the original advisory.

Technology hubs

Kubernetes security

Code

The project this record applies to. Exploit listings stay in References.

Timeline

Detection, updates, and resolution for this record.

  1. May 11, 2026 · NIST NVD

    Detected

    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 impers

  2. Jun 17, 2026 · NIST NVD

    Updated

    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 impers

Sources

  • CVE.orgVulnerability recordCVE-2026-42876

    Official CVE identifier

    cve.org
  • FIRST EPSSExploitation probabilityCVE-2026-42876

    30-day exploitation probability 0.3%

    first.org
  • NIST NVDVulnerability recordCVE-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 auto

    nvd.nist.gov

References

Freshness

Last verified in this catalog Oct 18, 2026. Significant claims (KEV, EPSS, CVSS, affected ranges) come from the source rows above — open the original publisher for the authoritative advisory.