Privilege escalation in Calico CNI install binary
In vulnerable versions of Calico (v3.27.2 and below), Calico Enterprise (v3.19.0-1, v3.18.1, v3.17.3 and below), and Calico Cloud (v19.2.0 and below), an attacker who has local access to the Kubernetes node, can escalate their privileges by exploiting a vulnerability in the Calico CNI install binary. The issue arises from an incorrect SUID (Set User ID) bit configuration in the binary, combined with the ability to control the input binary, allowing an attacker to execute an arbitrary binary with elevated privileges.
Noroxi analysis
No Noroxi analysis for this record yet
We don't hand-write analysis for the hundreds of thousands of vulnerabilities in the database; that wouldn't be honest. For notable, high-impact vulnerabilities our team writes the mechanism, detection and remediation steps.
We use this product, ask for help- Published
- Apr 29, 2024
- Updated
- Jun 17, 2026
- EPSS
- 0.2% · 11th percentile
- CWE
- CWE-269
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Report tools
Action score
26
Monitor
Low priority for now.
- CVSS
- 26 / 40 · 6.7 / 10
- CISA KEV
- 0 / 30 · Not listed
- EPSS
- 0 / 30 · 0.2%
CISA SSVC decision
- Exploitation
- none
- Automatable
- no
- Technical impact
- total
Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.
CNA vs NVD score
- NVD
- —
- CNA · Tigera
- 6.7
- NVD has not scored this yet; the score shown is the CNA’s.
The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.
Affected systems
| Vendor | Product | CPE |
|---|---|---|
| tigera | calico | cpe:2.3:a:tigera:calico |
| tigera | calico enterprise | cpe:2.3:a:tigera:calico_enterprise |
| tigera | calico cloud | cpe:2.3:a:tigera:calico_cloud |
Versions reported by the vendor
Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (Tigera). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.
Tigera Calico
- v3.28.0not affected
- before v3.26.5affected · semver
- v3.27.0 and later · before v3.27.3affected · semver
Tigera Calico Cloud
- before v19.3.0affected · semver
Tigera Calico Enterprise
- before v3.17.4affected · semver
- v3.18.0 and later · before v3.18.2affected · semver
- v3.19.0-1.0 and later · before v3.19.0-2.0affected · semver
Package-level exposure
OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Go | github.com/projectcalico/calico | from 3.27.0 · before 3.27.3 | 3.27.3 |
| Go | github.com/projectcalico/calico | before 3.26.5 | 3.26.5 |
| Go | github.com/projectcalico/calico | all versions | — |
| Go | github.com/projectcalico/calico/v3 | all versions | — |
Same product
tigera: all recordsOther highest-scoring records for the same primary product.
- CVE-2026-6540L7 policy bypass via unnormalized HTTP path matching31Monitor
- CVE-2026-6720Calicoctl leaks cluster credentials to stderr when verbose logging is enabled28Monitor
- CVE-2026-41187Calico Tier Authorization Bypass via DeleteCollection24Monitor
- CVE-2026-41186Unauthenticated Go pprof exposure in Calico debug server24Monitor
- CVE-2026-41185ServiceAccount token disclosure via Azure IPAM CNI plugin logs24Monitor
- CVE-2026-41184ServiceAccount token disclosure via install-cni container logs24Monitor
Remediation
Which version to upgrade to
Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.
| Product / package | Fixed version | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Tigera Calico | v3.26.5 | Vendor (CNA) |
| Tigera Calico | v3.27.3 | Vendor (CNA) |
| Tigera Calico Cloud | v19.3.0 | Vendor (CNA) |
| Tigera Calico Enterprise | v3.17.4 | Vendor (CNA) |
| Tigera Calico Enterprise | v3.18.2 | Vendor (CNA) |
| Tigera Calico Enterprise | v3.19.0-2.0 | Vendor (CNA) |
| Go:github.com/projectcalico/calico | 3.26.5 | Package registry (OSV) |
| Go:github.com/projectcalico/calico | 3.27.3 | Package registry (OSV) |
Exploit status
No known public exploit
No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.
Research context
For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.
Timeline
From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.
No dated events beyond publication.
FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).
Patch and commit links
Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.
Credits
All researchersFinders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.
- Anthony Tamremediation reviewer
- Behnam Shobiriremediation verifier
- Pedro Coutinhoremediation developer
- Matt Dupreremediation reviewer
- Christopher Alonso (Github: @latortuga71)finder
Variant candidates
Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.
No nightly-computed relations.
Chain candidates
An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.
—
Bug bounty scope
No known public program.
Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).
Technical details
Attack conditions
- Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
- Administrator privileges are required.
- No user action is required.
- No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
If successful
- Confidentiality
- high · data can be read
- Integrity
- high · data or configuration can be modified
- Availability
- high · the service can be disrupted
- Attack vector
- Local
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality impact
- High
- Integrity impact
- High
- Availability impact
- High
Weakness class (CWE)
CWE-269 · Improper Privilege ManagementCVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
nvd-secondary
Root cause
To simplify setup, a service account is granted broad, cluster-wide permissions. The principle of least privilege is skipped during installation.
The bug in code
The whole CWE-269 classA representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.
Vulnerable
kind: ClusterRolerules: - apiGroups: ["*"] resources: ["*"] verbs: ["*"]Fixed
kind: Rolemetadata: namespace: lodos-systemrules: - apiGroups: ["apps"] resources: ["deployments"] verbs: ["get", "list", "update"]Attack context
MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.
Change log
- Fix✗ → ✓
For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →
References
- github.com/projectcalico/calico/issues/7981
- github.com/projectcalico/calico/pull/8447
- github.com/projectcalico/calico/pull/8517
- www.tigera.io/security-bulletins-tta-2024-001/
Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.