CVE-2026-55226
Received Received - Intake

Excess RBAC Permissions in Strimzi Kafka Operator

Publication date: 2026-09-15

Last updated on: 2026-09-15

Assigner: GitHub, Inc.

Description
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, deploying only the Topic Operator or only the User Operator through the Kafka custom resource leaves the Entity Operator ServiceAccount with RBAC permissions for both components. The excess permissions can allow access to KafkaUser custom resources and Secrets when the User Operator is absent, or access to KafkaTopic custom resources when the Topic Operator is absent. This issue is fixed in versions 1.0.1 and 1.1.0.

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Meta Information

Published
2026-09-15
Last Modified
2026-09-15
Generated
2026-09-15
AI Q&A
2026-09-15
EPSS Evaluated
N/A
NVD
CVE-2026-55226
EUVD
EUVD-2026-78880

Affected Vendors & Products

Showing 2 associated CPEs
Vendor Product Version / Range
strimzi strimzi 1.0.1
strimzi strimzi 1.1.0

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE
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KEV
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CWE ID Description
CWE-272 The elevated privilege level required to perform operations such as chroot() should be dropped immediately after the operation is performed.
CWE-269 The product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor.

Attack-Flow Graph

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Executive Summary

CVE-2026-55226 is a privilege escalation vulnerability in Strimzi Kafka Operator versions 1.0.0 and earlier. It occurs when only the Topic Operator or User Operator is deployed, leaving the Entity Operator ServiceAccount with excessive RBAC permissions for both components. This allows unauthorized access to Secrets, KafkaUser, or KafkaTopic resources depending on which operator is missing.

Detection Guidance

To detect this vulnerability, check if your Strimzi Kafka Operator version is 1.0.0 or earlier. Run: kubectl get deployment -n <namespace> -l strimzi.io/name=<cluster-name>-entity-operator -o jsonpath='{.items[0].spec.template.spec.containers[0].image}' to verify the version. If the version is 1.0.0 or earlier, the system is vulnerable.

Impact Analysis

An attacker with low privileges could exploit this to access sensitive data like KafkaUser credentials or Secrets. The impact includes unauthorized data exposure, potential privilege escalation, and violation of least-privilege principles. The attack requires low privileges and has high complexity but no user interaction.

Compliance Impact

This vulnerability violates data protection principles by allowing unauthorized access to sensitive data, which could lead to non-compliance with GDPR, HIPAA, and other regulations. It undermines data confidentiality and least-privilege access requirements mandated by these standards.

Mitigation Strategies

Upgrade to Strimzi versions 1.0.1 or 1.1.0 or later. If upgrading is not immediately possible, ensure the Entity Operator's watched namespace feature is disabled by default and explicitly enabled only when required by setting STRIMZI_ENTITY_OPERATOR_WATCHED_NAMESPACE_ENABLED=false.

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