CVE-2026-70495: Search-v2-operator: search-v2-operator: cluster-wide impersonate on users/groups shared across 4 pods grants hub system:masters

Severity: high (CVSS 8.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2026-08-17 · updated 2026-08-27
Weakness: CWE-269

Description

A flaw was found in search-v2-operator. This component's `search-serviceaccount` has overly broad permissions, allowing it to impersonate users and groups across the entire cluster. If an attacker gains access to any of the pods running under this service account, they could exploit this to achieve `system:masters` access, granting them full control over the cluster.

Affected products

Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2: all versions
Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.11: all versions — fixed in 1787688827
Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.13: all versions — fixed in 1787682112
Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.14: all versions — fixed in 1787682033
Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.15: all versions — fixed in 1787681674
Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.16: all versions — fixed in 1787681686
Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.17: all versions — fixed in 1787681651

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.11 1787688827; Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.13 1787682112; Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.14 1787682033; Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.15 1787681674; Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.16 1787681686; Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.17 1787681651. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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