Kong Mesh: a dataplane token without a workload binding can claim any workload's SPIFFE identity
Summary
| CVE | CVE-2026-18677 |
|---|---|
| State | PUBLISHED |
| Assigner | Kong |
| Source Priority | CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback |
| Published | 2026-08-12 19:17:31 UTC |
| Updated | 2026-08-13 15:19:36 UTC |
| Description | In Kong Mesh running in universal mode with a MeshIdentity whose SPIFFE ID path template derives from the dataplane's kuma.io/workload label, the XDS authenticator in kuma-cp validates that label only when the dataplane token is bound to a workload. Workload binding is optional, so a dataplane presenting a tags-bound token can register with kuma.io/workload set to any value and obtain another workload's SPIFFE identity. |
Risk And Classification
Primary CVSS: v4.0 6 MEDIUM from 02762ae7-200e-4b20-9b2b-a77d5b8fc4cb
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
EPSS: 0.003130000 probability, percentile 0.239420000 (date 2026-08-14)
Problem Types: CWE-290 | CWE-290 CWE-290 Authentication Bypass by Spoofing
| Version | Source | Type | Score | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | 02762ae7-200e-4b20-9b2b-a77d5b8fc4cb | Secondary | 6 | MEDIUM | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/C... |
| 4.0 | CNA | CVSS | 6 | MEDIUM | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N |
CVSS v4.0 Breakdown
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
Vendor Declared Affected Products
References
| Reference | Source | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| github.com/kumahq/kuma/pull/17474 | 02762ae7-200e-4b20-9b2b-a77d5b8fc4cb | github.com | |
| github.com/kumahq/kuma/pull/17502 | 02762ae7-200e-4b20-9b2b-a77d5b8fc4cb | github.com | |
| developer.konghq.com/mesh/changelog | 02762ae7-200e-4b20-9b2b-a77d5b8fc4cb | developer.konghq.com | |
| github.com/kumahq/kuma/security/advisories/GHSA-744g-c785-x65q | 02762ae7-200e-4b20-9b2b-a77d5b8fc4cb | github.com | |
| github.com/kumahq/kuma/pull/17503 | 02762ae7-200e-4b20-9b2b-a77d5b8fc4cb | github.com | |
| CVE Program record | CVE.ORG | www.cve.org | canonical |
| NVD vulnerability detail | NVD | nvd.nist.gov | canonical, analysis |
Vendor Comments And Credit
Discovery Credit
CNA: kanywst (en)
Additional Advisory Data
| Source | Time | Event |
|---|---|---|
| CNA | 2026-08-01T16:58:00.000Z | Kong Mesh 2.13.10 and 2.14.2 published |
Solutions
CNA: Upgrade to Kong Mesh 2.13.10 or 2.14.2, whichever matches your release line. In patched versions a dataplane whose identity derives from the kuma.io/workload label requires a workload-bound token; an unbound tags-only token is rejected at XDS authentication. Kubernetes mode and universal templates that do not reference the workload label keep working with unbound tokens.
Workarounds
CNA: Issue workload-bound dataplane tokens for every dataplane whose identity derives from the kuma.io/workload label. A workload-bound token constrains that label to the bound value, so a mismatched label is rejected at authentication.