External Secrets Operator: Namespace Isolation Bypass in CAProvider ConfigMap Resolution for SecretStore
Summary
| CVE | CVE-2026-42875 |
|---|---|
| State | PUBLISHED |
| Assigner | GitHub_M |
| Source Priority | CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback |
| Published | 2026-05-11 20:25:44 UTC |
| Updated | 2026-05-11 20:25:44 UTC |
| Description | External Secrets Operator reads information from a third-party service and automatically injects the values as Kubernetes Secrets. Prior to 2.4.0, Namespaced SecretStore resources that used CAProvider with type ConfigMap could resolve CA material from another namespace when caProvider.namespace was set. This bypassed the namespace boundary enforced for SecretStore-backed references in providers that rely on the shared runtime CA resolver. This vulnerability is fixed in 2.4.0. |
Risk And Classification
Primary CVSS: v4.0 5.3 MEDIUM from [email protected]
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:L/SI:L/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: 0.000380000 probability, percentile 0.115330000 (date 2026-05-12)
Problem Types: CWE-285 | CWE-668 | CWE-285 CWE-285: Improper Authorization | CWE-668 CWE-668: Exposure of Resource to Wrong Sphere
| Version | Source | Type | Score | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | [email protected] | Secondary | 5.3 | MEDIUM | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:L/SI:L/SA:N/E:X/C... |
| 4.0 | CNA | DECLARED | 5.3 | MEDIUM | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:L/SI:L/SA:N |
CVSS v4.0 Breakdown
Attack Vector
NetworkAttack Complexity
LowAttack Requirements
NonePrivileges Required
LowUser Interaction
NoneConfidentiality
NoneIntegrity
NoneAvailability
NoneSub Conf.
LowSub Integrity
LowSub Availability
NoneCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:L/SI:L/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
| Source | Vendor | Product | Version | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CNA | External-secrets | External-secrets | affected < 2.4.0 | Not specified |
References
| Reference | Source | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/security/advisories/GHSA-wv... | [email protected] | github.com | |
| CVE Program record | CVE.ORG | www.cve.org | canonical |
| NVD vulnerability detail | NVD | nvd.nist.gov | canonical, analysis |
No vendor comments have been submitted for this CVE.
There are currently no legacy QID mappings associated with this CVE.