CVE-2026-55225

Strimzi: Cross-namespace privilege escalation via `Kafka.spec.entityOperator`

HIGH
8
CVSS Score
Published: September 15, 2026 at 05:15 PM UTC
Updated: September 30, 2026 at 05:43 PM UTC
2 products affected across 2 vendorsStreams for Apache KafkaStrimzi Kafka Operator

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Severity
HIGH8
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.3%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

Strimzi provides a way to run an Apache Kafka cluster on Kubernetes or OpenShift in various deployment configurations. In Strimzi 1.0.0 and earlier, an attacker who can create a Kafka custom resource can set Kafka.spec.entityOperator watchedNamespace to a target namespace, causing the Cluster Operator to create a Role with full Secret CRUD permissions there and bind it to the Entity Operator ServiceAccount in the attacker's namespace. The attacker can mint a token for that ServiceAccount and read or write Secrets in any target namespace where the Cluster Operator has been granted permissions, regardless of STRIMZI_NAMESPACE. This issue is fixed in versions 1.0.1 and 1.1.0.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

Vendor states this is fixed in 3.2.1 (unaffected)
v < 1.0.1
Affected range stops below 1.0.1, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet, and no fixed version or vendor advisory is recorded against it.

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatableTotal impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

8HIGHGitHub_M
Attack Vector
ADJACENT_NETWORK
Complexity
HIGH
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
CHANGED
Confidentiality
HIGH
Integrity
HIGH
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusAWAITING ANALYSIS
CWE
CWE-269CWE-441CWE-250

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