What’s Vulnerable › Vulnerabilities

CVE-2026-54099: Windows-machine-config-operator: windows-machine-config-operator: wicd csr extra-organization allows privilege escalation to system:masters

• Severity: high (CVSS 8.8 v3.1)
• Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
• EPSS: 0.1% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
• Public exploit or detection template: none known
• Published: 2026-06-22 · updated 2026-10-14
• Weakness: CWE-269

Description

A flaw was found in the Windows Machine Config Operator (WMCO) for Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform. The WICD CSR auto-approver validates that a Certificate Signing Request contains the organization system:wicd-nodes but does not reject additional organization values such as system:masters. A compromised Windows worker node that holds WICD credentials can submit a CSR that is auto-approved and signed by the cluster, yielding a client certificate that grants cluster-administrator privileges and enabling full cluster takeover.

Affected products

• Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.18: from 4.0 before 4.22.1 — fixed in 4.22.1
• RedHat Windows Machine Config Operator: all versions

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.18 4.22.1. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

• https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:47173
• https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:61780
• https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:81397
• https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:82440
• https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-54099
• https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2487950
• https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:47173
• https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:61780
• https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-54099
• https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2487950
• https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-54099.json

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