Kyverno up to 1.18.1 Generator pkg/cel/libs/context.go generator.apply namespace improper authorization

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability identified as critical has been detected in Kyverno up to 1.18.1. This impacts the function generator.apply of the file pkg/cel/libs/context.go of the component Generator. The manipulation of the argument namespace leads to improper authorization. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2026-54523. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. There is no exploit available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Kyverno up to 1.18.1 and classified as critical. This issue affects the function generator.apply of the file pkg/cel/libs/context.go of the component Generator. The manipulation of the argument namespace with an unknown input leads to a improper authorization vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-285. The product does not perform or incorrectly performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

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.

The advisory is shared at github.com. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-54523 since 06/15/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be initiated remotely. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. MITRE ATT&CK project uses the attack technique T1548.002 for this issue.

Upgrading to version 1.18.2 eliminates this vulnerability.

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Productinfo

Name

• Kyverno

Version

• 1.18.0
• 1.18.1

Website

• Product: https://github.com/kyverno/kyverno/

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