NVD / CVE Program· CNA GitHub_M

CVE-2026-55225: Strimzi: Cross-namespace privilege escalation via `Kafka.spec.entityOperator`

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: 0.29% (FIRST EPSS).
Someone on the same network segment can trigger it. A low-privileged account is enough. No user action is required. Special conditions such as timing or configuration are required.
Fixed version: io.strimzi:strimzi (Maven) 1.0.1.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to io.strimzi:strimzi (Maven) 1.0.1 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

Strimzi provides a way to run an Apache Kafka cluster on Kubernetes or OpenShift in various deployment configurations. In Strimzi 1.0.0 and earlier, an attacker who can create a Kafka custom resource can set Kafka.spec.entityOperator watchedNamespace to a target namespace, causing the Cluster Operator to create a Role with full Secret CRUD permissions there and bind it to the Entity Operator ServiceAccount in the attacker's namespace. The attacker can mint a token for that ServiceAccount and read or write Secrets in any target namespace where the Cluster Operator has been granted permissions, regardless of STRIMZI_NAMESPACE. This issue is fixed in versions 1.0.1 and 1.1.0.

HighCVSS 8.0 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available

Published: Sep 15, 2026
Updated: Sep 30, 2026
EPSS: 0.2% · 22th percentile
CWE: CWE-269

Report tools

JSON

Action score

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS: 32 / 40 · 8.0 / 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 · GitHub_M: 8.0; 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.

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

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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.

Vendor	Product	CPE
amq streams	3.2	cpe:2.3:redhat:amq_streams:3.2
amq streams	2	cpe:2.3:redhat:amq_streams:2

Versions reported by the vendor

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

strimzi strimzi-kafka-operator
- < 1.0.1affected

Package-level exposure

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

Ecosystem	Package	Affected range	Fix
Maven	io.strimzi:strimzi	before 1.0.1	1.0.1

Same product

strimzi: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

CVE-2026-55226Strimzi: Unrestricted access to all Secrets within namespace watched by the Topic operator
21Monitor

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
Maven:io.strimzi:strimzi	1.0.1	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.

EPSS, last 120 days

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 researchers

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

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

CVE-2026-552260 days apartStrimzi: Unrestricted access to all Secrets within namespace watched by the Topic operator
21Monitor

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 on the same network segment can trigger it.
A low-privileged account is enough.
No user action is required.
Special conditions such as timing or configuration are required.

If successful

Confidentiality: high · data can be read
Integrity: high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability: high · the service can be disrupted

Impact can extend beyond the vulnerable component (scope changes).

Attack vector: Adjacent
Attack complexity: High
Privileges required: Low
User interaction: None
Scope: Changed
Confidentiality impact: High
Integrity impact: High
Availability impact: High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-269 · Improper Privilege Management

CVSS vector

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

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

yaml

1kind: ClusterRole
2rules:
3  - apiGroups: ["*"]
4    resources: ["*"]
5    verbs: ["*"]

Fixed

yaml

1kind: Role
2metadata:
3  namespace: lodos-system
4rules:
5  - apiGroups: ["apps"]
6    resources: ["deployments"]
7    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.

Attack patterns (CAPEC)

ATT&CK techniques

Abuse Elevation Control MechanismT1548

Change log

Fix✗ → ✓Sep 28, 2026, 10:45 PM UTC

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References

github.com/strimzi/strimzi-kafka-operator/commit/b3bfeffcc30754c3e62e6f4afd8a76942cac440d

Show all references (9 more)

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

All records