CVE-2026-14251

Deferred Deferred - Pending Action

Privilege Escalation in OpenShift GitOps Operator

Publication date: 2026-07-15

Last updated on: 2026-07-16

Assigner: Red Hat, Inc.

Description

A flaw was found in the OpenShift GitOps operator. The ClusterRole reconciler does not validate resource ownership when reconciling ClusterRole objects. A namespace-scoped Argo CD instance can trigger deletion of a ClusterRole owned by a cluster-scoped Argo CD instance by crafting a name collision, resulting in a denial of service.

CVSS Scores

EPSS Scores

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Meta Information

Published

2026-07-15

Last Modified

2026-07-16

Generated

2026-08-04

AI Q&A

2026-07-15

EPSS Evaluated

2026-08-03

NVD

CVE-2026-14251

EUVD

EUVD-2026-44596

Affected Vendors & Products

Vendor	Product	Version / Range
redhat	gitops-operator	to 2026-07-06 (inc)

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE

KEV

CWE ID	Description
CWE-862	The product does not perform an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action.

Attack-Flow Graph

Executive Summary

This vulnerability is in the OpenShift GitOps operator where the ClusterRole reconciler fails to validate resource ownership during reconciliation. A namespace-scoped Argo CD instance can exploit this by creating a name collision to delete a ClusterRole owned by a cluster-scoped Argo CD instance, causing a denial of service.

Detection Guidance

Check for unauthorized ClusterRole deletions or modifications in your OpenShift GitOps operator logs. Look for suspicious activity in the argocd-operator namespace, particularly around ClusterRole reconciliation events. Review RBAC permissions for namespace-scoped Argo CD instances to ensure they cannot interact with cluster-scoped resources.

Impact Analysis

It can lead to denial of service by allowing unauthorized deletion of ClusterRole resources. This may disrupt cluster operations and cause service outages for applications relying on those roles.

Compliance Impact

This vulnerability primarily enables denial-of-service (DoS) attacks and potential privilege escalation through improper ClusterRole management. While not directly violating GDPR or HIPAA, such flaws could lead to unauthorized access or service disruption, which may indirectly impact compliance by compromising data integrity or availability.

Mitigation Strategies

Apply the latest patches for the gitops-operator. Restrict permissions for namespace-scoped Argo CD instances to prevent them from managing ClusterRole objects. Monitor ClusterRole changes and set up alerts for unexpected deletions or modifications.

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