CVE-2025-55196External Secrets Operator Missing Namespace Restriction in PushSecret and SecretStore List() Calls Allows Unauthorized Secret Access
- 7.1HighCVSS base score
- 0.39%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 66% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- NonePublic exploitsnone known yet
Description
External Secrets Operator is a Kubernetes operator that integrates external secret management systems. From version 0.15.0 to before 0.19.2, a vulnerability was discovered where the List() calls for Kubernetes Secret and SecretStore resources performed by the PushSecret controller did not apply a namespace selector. This flaw allowed an attacker to use label selectors to list and read secrets/secret-stores across the cluster, bypassing intended namespace restrictions. An attacker with the ability to create or update PushSecret resources and control SecretStore configurations could exploit this vulnerability to exfiltrate sensitive data from arbitrary namespaces. This could lead to full disclosure of Kubernetes secrets, including credentials, tokens, and other sensitive information stored in the cluster. This vulnerability has been patched in version 0.19.2. A workaround for this issue includes auditing and restricting RBAC permissions so that only trusted service accounts can create or update PushSecret and SecretStore resources.
Timeline
ID reserved
By GitHub_M
- 5 days later
· 5 days later
Published
- 1 day later
· 1 day later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub_MCNA (assigner) | 4.0 | High7.1 | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N |
| NVDNVD · Deferred | 4.0 | High7.1 | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 0.39% · top 66% of all CVEs (13 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: none · Automatable: no · Technical impact: partial
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 7.1.
Affected products
external-secrets · external-secrets
- affected >= 0.15.0, < 0.19.2
Affected packages
From reviewed advisories of the GitHub Advisory Database.
- Gogithub.com/external-secrets/external-secretsGHSA-fcxq-v2r3-cc8h (opens in a new tab)
References
References5
- https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/security/advisories/GHSA-fcxq-v2r3-cc8h (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/pull/5109 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/pull/5133 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/commit/39cdba5863533007b582dc63dd300839326b2f1d (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/commit/de40e8f4fa9559c1d770bb674589b285da5ef2d1 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISC
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2025-24649 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisory GHSA-fcxq-v2r3-cc8h (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2025-55196)Record last updated .