CVE-2026-77524
KEDA is a Kubernetes-based Event Driven Autoscaling component.
Published Oct 14, 2026 · corrected/updated Oct 15, 2026 · evidence confidence high
## Summary A namespace admin who creates a and a in their own namespace can make the KEDA operator send its own ServiceAccount token to a tenant-controlled URL. That token holds cluster-wide, so it reads every Secret in every namespace, plus and create/delete cluster-wide, update on any workload, update (rewrite or disable cluster admission), and update (hijack aggregated API routing). This is effectively privilege escalation from namespace admin to cluster admin in real environments: a cluster-wide Secret read alone is enough to find a token for a more privileged ServiceAccount, and the cluster-wide create lets the attacker run a workload in any namespace whose Pod Security Admission level permits it (or that is PSA-exempt, such as , ) to reach the node filesystem and a control-plane kubeconfig. This is an incomplete fix of CVE-2025-68476: its content filter only requires the loaded file to be a JWT whose subject begins with , which the operator's own projected token satisfies by construction. The destination field is unvalidated. Finder credits: Artem Cherezov @cherez0ff, with Claude Opus 4.8 ## Verified live kind v1.31.2, kedacore/keda v2.20.0 (latest at the time of audit, ) installed from the unmodified release manifest ( ), default settings. ## Preconditions 1. The tenant holds on and in its own namespace (the documented KEDA tenant workflow), plus the built-in ClusterRole in that namespace. Often granted by a namespaced admin Role ( ) in multi-tenant environments. 2. KEDA is installed with default settings. ## Reproduction ### Cluster preparation (not part of the attack) ### Attack 1. Deploy a listener in the tenant namespace that impersonates a HashiCorp Vault server. It logs the login request body and replies with a well-formed Vault auth envelope. The KEDA operator uses the Vault Go client, which issues the login as an HTTP , so the listener must accept all methods. 2. Create the (the primitive) and a with a trigger referencing it. With and no block, KEDA d
Grounded briefings
Catalog interpretations for three audiences. Each brief cites ingested metadata and the original advisories below. They are not independent research and they do not invent exploit steps.
Executive
CVE-2026-77524 is a critical public vulnerability record for this product. It is not currently listed in the CISA Known Exploited catalog. Check the linked vendor or CERT advisories for patch status. This summary is a catalog interpretation of the ingested metadata and cites the original advisories below.
System administrator
Identify whether this product is in your estate, then compare installed versions with the affected ranges. Affected packages or ranges on record: github.com/kedacore/keda; github.com/kedacore/keda/v2 (0 → 2.21.0); github.com/kedacore/keda (<= 1.5.0); github.com/kedacore/keda/v2 (< 2.21.0). Check the linked vendor or CERT advisories for patch status. Prefer the vendor or distribution advisory linked in Sources before changing production systems. This is a catalog interpretation, not a runbook.
Security analyst
Signals on file: CVSS 9.9, EPSS 0.6%. It is not currently listed in the CISA Known Exploited catalog. Weakness classes: CWE-269, CWE-918. Sources contributing to this record: cve_org, epss, github, gitlab. Public exploit references, when present, are outbound links only and are not proof of active exploitation. This is a catalog interpretation of stored metadata.
Exploitation and remediation
Exploitation evidence
Not listed as known exploited in CISA KEV. Not in the CISA KEV catalog.
Patch and remediation
No required-action text is stored yet. Use the vendor or CERT links in Sources for patch availability.
Safe detection guidance
Compare installed versions with the affected ranges below and verify the advisory from the original publisher. This site stores metadata and outbound links only; it does not ship exploit code or proof-of-concept payloads.
Technology hubs
Code
The project this record applies to. Exploit listings stay in References.
Timeline
Detection, updates, and resolution for this record.
Oct 14, 2026 · NIST NVD
Detected
KEDA is a Kubernetes-based Event Driven Autoscaling component. In version 2.20.2 and earlier, a namespace administrator who can create TriggerAuthentication and ScaledObject resources can set hashiCorpVault.address to a tenant-controlled endpoint and select Kubernetes authentication without an explicit credential. KEDA then uses the operator pod's projected ServiceAccount token and sends it to tha
Oct 15, 2026 · GitHub Advisory Database
Fix available
github.com/kedacore/keda/v2 fixed in 2.21.0
Oct 15, 2026 · GitHub Advisory Database
Fix available
github.com/kedacore/keda/v2 fixed in 2.21.0
Oct 15, 2026 · GitHub Advisory Database
Updated
## Summary A namespace admin who creates a and a in their own namespace can make the KEDA operator send its own ServiceAccount token to a tenant-controlled URL. That token holds cluster-wide, so it reads every Secret in every namespace, plus and create/delete cluster-wide, update on any workload, update (rewrite or disable cluster admission), and update (hijack aggregated API routing). This is eff
Affected
- Go github.com/kedacore/kedaversion unspecified
- Go github.com/kedacore/keda/v20 → 2.21.0
- go github.com/kedacore/keda<= 1.5.0
- go github.com/kedacore/keda/v2< 2.21.0
- golang github.comversion unspecified
Sources
- CVE.orgVulnerability recordCVE-2026-77524
Official CVE identifier
cve.org - FIRST EPSSExploitation probabilityCVE-2026-77524
30-day exploitation probability 0.6%
first.org - GitHub Advisory DatabasePackage advisoryGHSA-637c-6jxx-4rwm
GitHub Advisory Database record mirrored by OSV.
github.com - GitLab Advisory DatabasePackage advisoryCVE-2026-77524
A namespace admin who creates a TriggerAuthentication and a ScaledObject in their own namespace can make the KEDA operator send its own ServiceAccount token to a tenant-controlled URL. That token holds [" "]/[" "] get cluster-wide, so it reads every Secret in every namespace, plus batch/jobs and horizontalpodautoscalers create/delete cluster-wide, */scale update on any workload, validatingwebhookc
advisories.gitlab.com - NIST NVDVulnerability recordCVE-2026-77524
KEDA is a Kubernetes-based Event Driven Autoscaling component. In version 2.20.2 and earlier, a namespace administrator who can create TriggerAuthentication and ScaledObject resources can set hashiCorpVault.address to a tenant-controlled endpoint and select Kubernetes authenticat
nvd.nist.gov - OSV.devPackage advisoryGHSA-637c-6jxx-4rwm
KEDA: Privilege escalation from namespace admin to cluster admin via KEDA TriggerAuthentication
osv.dev