Incorrect Authorization Affecting github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/apis/externalsecrets/v1 package, versions <2.4.1
Threat Intelligence
The probability is the direct output of the EPSS model, and conveys an overall sense of the threat of exploitation in the wild. The percentile measures the EPSS probability relative to all known EPSS scores. Note: This data is updated daily, relying on the latest available EPSS model version. Check out the EPSS documentation for more details.
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Start learning- Snyk IDSNYK-GOLANG-GITHUBCOMEXTERNALSECRETSEXTERNALSECRETSAPISEXTERNALSECRETSV1-16643462
- published14 May 2026
- disclosed8 May 2026
- creditfactory-nizar, Kirk Strauser
Introduced: 8 May 2026
CVE-2026-42876 Â (opens in a new tab)How to fix?
Upgrade github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/apis/externalsecrets/v1 to version 2.4.1 or higher.
Overview
Affected versions of this package are vulnerable to Incorrect Authorization via ExternalSecret resource handling for Service Account tokens. A user can impersonate service accounts by crafting ExternalSecret resources that cause the operator to create Secrets populated with long-lived tokens for arbitrary service accounts in the namespace, bypassing intended permission boundaries.
Note This can only be exploited if additional misconfigurations are present in the ESO installation, as the attacker cannot gain access to further information using this method alone. The privileges gained by exploiting this are only marginally greater than those the attacker must have as a prerequisite.
Workaround
This vulnerability can be mitigated by adding admission control logic to prevent the use of Templates targeting undesired Types, removing Service Account Token generation via kube-controller-manager flags, or restricting User RBAC on production clusters and sensitive namespaces.