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NVD / CVE Program· CNA kubernetes

CVE-2021-25745: Ingress-nginx path can be pointed to service account token file

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 32/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 1.1% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 68% of all records.
  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. A low-privileged account is enough. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • Fixed version: k8s.io/ingress-nginx (Go) 1.2.0; rke (openSUSE:Tumbleweed) 1.3.10-1.1.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to k8s.io/ingress-nginx (Go) 1.2.0; rke (openSUSE:Tumbleweed) 1.3.10-1.1 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

A security issue was discovered in ingress-nginx where a user that can create or update ingress objects can use the spec.rules[].http.paths[].path field of an Ingress object (in the networking.k8s.io or extensions API group) to obtain the credentials of the ingress-nginx controller. In the default configuration, that credential has access to all secrets in the cluster.

HighCVSS 8.1 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available
Published
May 5, 2022
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
1.1% · 68th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

32

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
32 / 40 · 8.1 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 1.1%

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
8.1
CNA · kubernetes
7.6
0.5 point gap

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:L

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • A fix has been released

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

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When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
kubernetesingress-nginx

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • kubernetes ingress-nginxbefore 1.2.0

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (kubernetes). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • Kubernetes Kubernetes ingress-nginx

    • unspecified and later · before 1.2.0affected

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Gok8s.io/ingress-nginxbefore 1.2.01.2.0
openSUSE:Tumbleweedrkebefore 1.3.10-1.11.3.10-1.1

Same product

kubernetes: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2025-1974ingress-nginx admission controller RCE escalation
    69This week
  • CVE-2025-1098ingress-nginx controller - configuration injection via unsanitized mirror annotations
    61This week
  • CVE-2023-5044Code injection via nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/permanent-redirect annotation
    51Plan

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2020-8553Jul 29, 2020 · Kubernetes ingress-nginx Compromise of auth via subset/superset namespace names
    23Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2021-25742Oct 29, 2021 · Ingress-nginx custom snippets allows retrieval of ingress-nginx serviceaccount token and secrets across all namespaces
    29Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2021-25746May 5, 2022 · Ingress-nginx directive injection via annotations
    28Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
Go:k8s.io/ingress-nginx1.2.0Package registry (OSV)
opensuse:rke1.3.10-1.1 · openSUSE:TumbleweedPackage 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.

No history yet (it accumulates with the daily EPSS job).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

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

The product’s vendor appears in a public program. Matched by name; verify the scope text in the program.

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • A low-privileged account is enough.
  • 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
none
Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
None

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-20 · Improper Input Validation

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

nvd-primary

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

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

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References

Show all references (2 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records