Hawtio-operator: hawtio-operator: cluster-wide secrets read/write granted to operator serviceaccount
Summary
| CVE | CVE-2026-77968 |
|---|---|
| State | PUBLISHED |
| Assigner | redhat |
| Source Priority | CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback |
| Published | 2026-09-08 12:16:59 UTC |
| Updated | 2026-09-08 19:08:15 UTC |
| Description | A flaw was found in hawtio-operator. The operator's ClusterRole grants secrets: [create, get, list, update, watch] across all namespaces. While the operator uses a controller-runtime label-selector cache as a memory optimization, the ServiceAccount token authorizes read access to every Secret in the cluster. The operator also bypasses the cache via direct API calls. Compromise of the operator pod would yield read access to every Secret in the cluster, including bootstrap tokens, cloud credentials, and other operators' secrets. |
Risk And Classification
Primary CVSS: v3.1 8.2 HIGH from [email protected]
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N
Problem Types: CWE-269 | CWE-269 Improper Privilege Management
| Version | Source | Type | Score | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | [email protected] | Secondary | 8.2 | HIGH | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N |
| 3.1 | CNA | CVSS | 8.2 | HIGH | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N |
CVSS v3.1 Breakdown
Attack Vector
NetworkAttack Complexity
HighPrivileges Required
LowUser Interaction
NoneScope
ChangedConfidentiality
HighIntegrity
HighAvailability
NoneCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N
Vendor Declared Affected Products
| Source | Vendor | Product | Version | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CNA | Red Hat | Red Hat Build Of Apache Camel - HawtIO 4 | Not specified | Not specified |
| CNA | Red Hat | Red Hat Build Of Apache Camel - HawtIO 4 | Not specified | Not specified |
References
| Reference | Source | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-77968 | [email protected] | access.redhat.com | |
| bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi | [email protected] | bugzilla.redhat.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.
Additional Advisory Data
| Source | Time | Event |
|---|---|---|
| CNA | 2026-05-20T00:00:00.000Z | Reported to Red Hat. |
| CNA | 2026-09-08T10:56:55.174Z | Made public. |
Workarounds
CNA: Restrict access to the hawtio-operator namespace and limit who can exec into the operator pod. Monitor cluster audit logs for unexpected Secret access patterns from the hawtio-operator ServiceAccount. As a defence-in-depth measure, apply a NetworkPolicy to the operator namespace restricting egress to only the Kubernetes API server and required service endpoints.
There are currently no legacy QID mappings associated with this CVE.