Submariner: submariner: ipsec.conf stanza injection via remote-supplied cablename and subnets
Summary
| CVE | CVE-2026-66786 |
|---|---|
| State | PUBLISHED |
| Assigner | redhat |
| Source Priority | CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback |
| Published | 2026-09-02 18:21:10 UTC |
| Updated | 2026-09-05 01:16:49 UTC |
| Description | A flaw was found in submariner. In cert-auth mode, the connection configuration is built using free-form strings from the Custom Resource Definition (CRD) without proper validation. A malicious cluster can exploit this by publishing a CableName that includes newlines and ipsec.conf directives. This allows an attacker to inject arbitrary configuration parameters or execute commands through leftupdown hooks, leading to remote code execution as root on the gateway node. |
Risk And Classification
Primary CVSS: v3.1 9.1 CRITICAL from [email protected]
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS: 0.007370000 probability, percentile 0.521060000 (date 2026-09-04)
Problem Types: CWE-94 | CWE-94 Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')
| Version | Source | Type | Score | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | [email protected] | Secondary | 9.1 | CRITICAL | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| 3.1 | CNA | CVSS | 9.1 | CRITICAL | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H |
CVSS v3.1 Breakdown
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Vendor Declared Affected Products
| Source | Vendor | Product | Version | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CNA | Red Hat | Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management For Kubernetes 2.17 | unaffected 1788023916 * rpm | Not specified |
| CNA | Red Hat | Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management For Kubernetes 2.17 | unaffected 1788023940 * rpm | Not specified |
| CNA | Red Hat | Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management For Kubernetes 2.17 | unaffected 1788105072 * rpm | Not specified |
| CNA | Red Hat | Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management For Kubernetes 2.17 | unaffected 1788043964 * rpm | Not specified |
| CNA | Red Hat | Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management For Kubernetes 2.17 | unaffected 1788043961 * rpm | Not specified |
| CNA | Red Hat | Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management For Kubernetes 2.17 | unaffected 1788073481 * rpm | Not specified |
| CNA | Red Hat | Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management For Kubernetes 2.17 | unaffected 1788043970 * rpm | Not specified |
| CNA | Red Hat | Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management For Kubernetes 2 | Not specified | Not specified |
| CNA | Red Hat | Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management For Kubernetes 2 | Not specified | Not specified |
References
| Reference | Source | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi | [email protected] | bugzilla.redhat.com | |
| access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:63016 | [email protected] | access.redhat.com | |
| access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-66786 | [email protected] | access.redhat.com | |
| CVE Program record | CVE.ORG | www.cve.org | canonical |
| NVD vulnerability detail | NVD | nvd.nist.gov | canonical, analysis |
Additional Advisory Data
| Source | Time | Event |
|---|---|---|
| CNA | 2026-07-27T00:00:00.000Z | Reported to Red Hat. |
| CNA | 2026-08-21T16:43:00.583Z | Made public. |
Workarounds
CNA: If Submariner certificate-based IPsec authentication mode is enabled (`IPSecCertAuthMode: true` in the SubmarinerConfig), administrators can mitigate this flaw by switching to the default pre-shared key (PSK) authentication mode. Set `IPSecCertAuthMode: false` (or remove the field to use its default value) in the SubmarinerConfig CR and redeploy the Submariner gateway pods. PSK mode provides equivalent inter-cluster IPsec tunnel encryption and is not affected by this vulnerability. Note that disabling cert-auth mode means Submariner will no longer integrate with OVN IPsec's certificate infrastructure and will manage its own PSK-based authentication independently.