{"dataType": "CVE_RECORD", "dataVersion": "5.2", "cveMetadata": {"cveId": "CVE-2026-16543", "assignerOrgId": "02762ae7-200e-4b20-9b2b-a77d5b8fc4cb", "state": "PUBLISHED", "assignerShortName": "Kong", "dateReserved": "2026-07-22T09:53:31.062Z", "datePublished": "2026-07-29T15:29:03.485Z", "dateUpdated": "2026-07-29T15:29:03.485Z"}, "containers": {"cna": {"providerMetadata": {"orgId": "02762ae7-200e-4b20-9b2b-a77d5b8fc4cb", "shortName": "Kong", "dateUpdated": "2026-07-29T15:29:03.485Z"}, "title": "Kong Operator cluster-wide ingress configuration DoS via embedded KIC CA-certificate ID collision", "problemTypes": [{"descriptions": [{"lang": "en", "cweId": "CWE-862", "description": "CWE-862", "type": "CWE"}]}, {"descriptions": [{"lang": "en", "cweId": "CWE-400", "description": "CWE-400", "type": "CWE"}]}], "impacts": [{"capecId": "CAPEC-240", "descriptions": [{"lang": "en", "value": "CAPEC-240 Resource Injection"}]}, {"descriptions": [{"lang": "en", "value": "Denial of Service"}]}], "affected": [{"collectionURL": "https://github.com", "packageName": "Kong/kong-operator", "repo": "https://github.com/Kong/kong-operator", "versions": [{"status": "affected", "version": "2.2.0", "lessThan": "2.2.3", "versionType": "semver"}, {"status": "affected", "version": "2.1.0", "lessThan": "2.1.9", "versionType": "semver"}, {"status": "affected", "version": "0", "lessThan": "2.0.11", "versionType": "semver"}], "defaultStatus": "unaffected"}], "descriptions": [{"lang": "en", "value": "Kong Operator's embedded Kong Kubernetes Ingress Controller (KIC) allows a user with namespace-scoped Secret creation privileges to cause a cluster-wide ingress configuration denial of service. The embedded KIC collects CA-certificate Secrets across all watched namespaces using a label selector alone, without ingress-class or namespace restrictions. The CA-certificate primary key is derived from a user-supplied field in the Secret. Duplicate CA-certificate IDs cause Kong Gateway to reject the entire configuration document and halting all ingress changes cluster-wide.", "supportingMedia": [{"type": "text/html", "base64": false, "value": "<p>Kong Operator's embedded Kong Kubernetes Ingress Controller (KIC) allows a user with namespace-scoped Secret creation privileges to cause a cluster-wide ingress configuration denial of service. The embedded KIC collects CA-certificate Secrets across all watched namespaces using a label selector alone, without ingress-class or namespace restrictions. T<span>he CA-certificate primary key is derived from a user-supplied field in the Secret. Duplicate CA-certificate IDs cause Kong Gateway to reject the entire configuration document and halting all ingress changes cluster-wide.</span></p>"}]}], "references": [{"url": "https://github.com/Kong/kong-operator/security/advisories/GHSA-h4fh-j7xg-vwcx"}], "metrics": [{"format": "CVSS", "scenarios": [{"lang": "en", "value": "GENERAL"}], "cvssV4_0": {"attackVector": "NETWORK", "attackComplexity": "LOW", "attackRequirements": "NONE", "privilegesRequired": "LOW", "userInteraction": "NONE", "vulnConfidentialityImpact": "NONE", "subConfidentialityImpact": "NONE", "vulnIntegrityImpact": "NONE", "subIntegrityImpact": "NONE", "vulnAvailabilityImpact": "HIGH", "subAvailabilityImpact": "NONE", "exploitMaturity": "NOT_DEFINED", "Safety": "NOT_DEFINED", "Automatable": "NOT_DEFINED", "Recovery": "NOT_DEFINED", "valueDensity": "NOT_DEFINED", "vulnerabilityResponseEffort": "NOT_DEFINED", "providerUrgency": "NOT_DEFINED", "version": "4.0", "baseSeverity": "HIGH", "baseScore": 7.1, "vectorString": "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N"}}], "configurations": [{"lang": "en", "value": "You are affected if\u00a0all\u00a0of the following hold:\n\n * You are running Kong Operator with an on-prem Gateway, managed via a\u00a0ControlPlane\u00a0resource that uses the embedded KIC.\n * The\u00a0ControlPlane\u00a0is configured with\u00a0spec.watchNamespaces.type: All, causing the embedded KIC to watch Secrets cluster-wide.\n * Your cluster hosts\u00a0multiple tenants\u00a0where not all users are fully trusted operators.\n * Untrusted users have RBAC permission to\u00a0create Secrets\u00a0in any namespace watched by the\u00a0ControlPlane, and are not prevented from applying both the\u00a0konghq.com/secret=true\u00a0and\u00a0konghq.com/ca-cert=true\u00a0labels.\n\n\nYou are\u00a0not\u00a0affected if:\n\n * The\u00a0ControlPlane\u00a0uses\u00a0spec.watchNamespaces.type: Own\u00a0or a tightly scoped\u00a0spec.watchNamespaces.type: List\u00a0covering only namespaces whose users are all fully trusted.\n * RBAC policies prevent untrusted users from creating Secrets with the labels\u00a0konghq.com/secret=true\u00a0and\u00a0konghq.com/ca-cert=true\u00a0in any namespace watched by the\u00a0ControlPlane.\n * You are using Kong Operator exclusively with Konnect-managed control planes (the vulnerability is in the embedded on-prem KIC path only).", "supportingMedia": [{"type": "text/html", "base64": false, "value": "<p>You are affected if<span>&nbsp;</span><strong>all</strong><span>&nbsp;</span>of the following hold:</p><ol><li>You are running Kong Operator with an on-prem Gateway, managed via a<span>&nbsp;</span><strong><code>ControlPlane</code></strong><span>&nbsp;</span>resource that uses the embedded KIC.</li><li>The<span>&nbsp;</span><code>ControlPlane</code><span>&nbsp;</span>is configured with<span>&nbsp;</span><strong><code>spec.watchNamespaces.type: All</code></strong>, causing the embedded KIC to watch Secrets cluster-wide.</li><li>Your cluster hosts<span>&nbsp;</span><strong>multiple tenants</strong><span>&nbsp;</span>where not all users are fully trusted operators.</li><li>Untrusted users have RBAC permission to<span>&nbsp;</span><strong>create Secrets</strong><span>&nbsp;</span>in any namespace watched by the<span>&nbsp;</span><code>ControlPlane</code>, and are not prevented from applying both the<span>&nbsp;</span><code>konghq.com/secret=true</code><span>&nbsp;</span>and<span>&nbsp;</span><code>konghq.com/ca-cert=true</code><span>&nbsp;</span>labels.</li></ol><p>You are<span>&nbsp;</span><strong>not</strong><span>&nbsp;</span>affected if:</p><ul><li>The<span>&nbsp;</span><code>ControlPlane</code><span>&nbsp;</span>uses<span>&nbsp;</span><code>spec.watchNamespaces.type: Own</code><span>&nbsp;</span>or a tightly scoped<span>&nbsp;</span><code>spec.watchNamespaces.type: List</code><span>&nbsp;</span>covering only namespaces whose users are all fully trusted.</li><li>RBAC policies prevent untrusted users from creating Secrets with the labels<span>&nbsp;</span><code>konghq.com/secret=true</code><span>&nbsp;</span>and<span>&nbsp;</span><code>konghq.com/ca-cert=true</code><span>&nbsp;</span>in any namespace watched by the<span>&nbsp;</span><code>ControlPlane</code>.</li><li>You are using Kong Operator exclusively with Konnect-managed control planes (the vulnerability is in the embedded on-prem KIC path only).</li></ul>"}]}], "workarounds": [{"lang": "en", "value": "1. Restrict\u00a0ControlPlane\u00a0watch scope: Change\u00a0spec.watchNamespaces.type\u00a0from\u00a0All\u00a0to\u00a0Own\u00a0or a narrowly defined\u00a0List\u00a0that covers only namespaces whose users are trusted operators. This prevents the embedded KIC from ingesting Secrets from untrusted namespaces.2. Restrict Secret labeling via RBAC: Use Kubernetes RBAC to prevent untrusted users from creating or modifying Secrets with the labels\u00a0konghq.com/secret=true\u00a0and\u00a0konghq.com/ca-cert=true. Consider using an admission webhook or OPA/Kyverno policy to enforce this label restriction.\n\n\n3. Audit existing CA-cert Secrets: Inspect Secrets labeled\u00a0konghq.com/ca-cert=true\u00a0across all watched namespaces for unexpected or duplicate\u00a0data.id\u00a0values. Remove any that were not provisioned by a trusted operator.", "supportingMedia": [{"type": "text/html", "base64": false, "value": "<strong>1. Restrict&nbsp;<code>ControlPlane</code>&nbsp;watch scope</strong><span>: Change</span><span>&nbsp;</span><code>spec.watchNamespaces.type</code><span>&nbsp;</span><span>from</span><span>&nbsp;</span><code>All</code><span>&nbsp;</span><span>to</span><span>&nbsp;</span><code>Own</code><span>&nbsp;</span><span>or a narrowly defined</span><span>&nbsp;</span><code>List</code><span>&nbsp;</span><span>that covers only namespaces whose users are trusted operators. This prevents the embedded KIC from ingesting Secrets from untrusted namespaces.</span><div><span><strong>2. Restrict Secret labeling via RBAC</strong><span>: Use Kubernetes RBAC to prevent untrusted users from creating or modifying Secrets with the labels</span><span>&nbsp;</span><code>konghq.com/secret=true</code><span>&nbsp;</span><span>and</span><span>&nbsp;</span><code>konghq.com/ca-cert=true</code><span>. Consider using an admission webhook or OPA/Kyverno policy to enforce this label restriction.</span><br></span></div><div><span><span><strong>3. Audit existing CA-cert Secrets</strong><span>: Inspect Secrets labeled</span><span>&nbsp;</span><code>konghq.com/ca-cert=true</code><span>&nbsp;</span><span>across all watched namespaces for unexpected or duplicate</span><span>&nbsp;</span><code>data.id</code><span>&nbsp;</span><span>values. Remove any that were not provisioned by a trusted operator.</span><br></span></span></div>"}]}], "solutions": [{"lang": "en", "value": "Upgrade to the patched version of Kong Operator: 2.2.3, 2.1.9 or 2.0.11.", "supportingMedia": [{"type": "text/html", "base64": false, "value": "<span>Upgrade to the patched version of Kong Operator: 2.2.3, 2.1.9 or 2.0.11.</span>"}]}], "source": {"discovery": "INTERNAL"}, "x_generator": {"engine": "Vulnogram 1.0.4"}}}}

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