High 8.0Published Sep 15, 2026

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

Updated under an hour ago (Oct 27, 2026, 9:00 AM ET)

Does this affect you?

It affects strimzi-kafka-operator and 1 other product. Add what you run to find out whether that includes you.

No exploitation reported and no EPSS estimate yet.

Do this next

Start free and add your stack

Free account, 1 product

Every CVE for strimzi-kafka-operator

Exploited in the last 30 days

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.

CVSS: 8.0 HIGH (v3.1, CNA)CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness (CWE): CWE-269, CWE-441, CWE-250
Known exploited: Not in CISA's KEV catalog
EPSS (exploitation in the next 30 days): Not loaded for this CVE
Assigned by: GitHub_M
NVD analysis: Awaiting Analysis
Record last updated: Sep 16, 2026
First seen by InfoSec Signals: Oct 9, 2026

Affected products

Affected products

strimzi strimzi-kafka-operator strimzi:kafka_operator (from the name)	before 1.0.1	CNA record
Red Hat Streams for Apache Kafka 3.2.1 redhat:amq_streams	3.2	CISA ADP

References

References

https://github.com/strimzi/strimzi-kafka-operator/security/advisories/GHSA-mw9r-p8xp-wx96	x-refsource-confirm
https://github.com/strimzi/strimzi-kafka-operator/pull/12844	x-refsource-misc
https://github.com/strimzi/strimzi-kafka-operator/commit/b3bfeffcc30754c3e62e6f4afd8a76942cac440d	x-refsource-misc
https://github.com/strimzi/strimzi-kafka-operator/commit/f6c5207ba7ec89b46ce6720b8638d647e556a261	x-refsource-misc
https://github.com/strimzi/strimzi-kafka-operator/releases/tag/1.0.1	x-refsource-misc
https://github.com/strimzi/strimzi-kafka-operator/releases/tag/1.1.0	x-refsource-misc
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:54435
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-55225
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2490275
https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-55225.json

The CVE record on cve.org NVD's entry

The CVE record is authoritative. Products marked “from the name” were identified from the CNA's free-text names, not a CPE, and are matched less certainly. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.