CVE-2022-24817: Improper kubeconfig validation allows arbitrary code execution

Severity: critical (CVSS 9.9 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 1.1% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2022-05-06 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-94

Description

Flux2 is an open and extensible continuous delivery solution for Kubernetes. Flux2 versions between 0.1.0 and 0.29.0, helm-controller 0.1.0 to v0.19.0, and kustomize-controller 0.1.0 to v0.23.0 are vulnerable to Code Injection via malicious Kubeconfig. In multi-tenancy deployments this can also lead to privilege escalation if the controller's service account has elevated permissions. Workarounds include disabling functionality via Validating Admission webhooks by restricting users from setting the `spec.kubeConfig` field in Flux `Kustomization` and `HelmRelease` objects. Additional mitigations include applying restrictive AppArmor and SELinux profiles on the controller’s pod to limit what binaries can be executed. This vulnerability is fixed in kustomize-controller v0.23.0 and helm-controller v0.19.0, both included in flux2 v0.29.0

Affected products

fluxcd flux2: from 0.1.0 before 0.29.0 — fixed in 0.29.0
fluxcd Helm-Controller: from 0.2.0 before 0.19.0 — fixed in 0.19.0
fluxcd kustomize-controller: from 0.1.0 before 0.23.0 — fixed in 0.23.0

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: fluxcd flux2 0.29.0; fluxcd Helm-Controller 0.19.0; fluxcd kustomize-controller 0.23.0. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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