# CVE-2025-71426: Contrast before 1.4.1 Coordinator Impersonation via Unauthenticated Recovery

> Attackers can impersonate coordinators to recover workload secrets if users fail to verify root CA certificates during recovery.

- **Severity:** High 7.1 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:L/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 27 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 8 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-m5hp-85q9-x6vh, GHSA-vqv5-385r-2hf8, GO-2025-3455

## What is CVE-2025-71426?

CVE-2025-71426 is a high-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in edgelesssys contrast, published on 27 Sep 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

Contrast is a confidential-computing runtime for Kubernetes. In versions before 1.4.1, a recovering Coordinator does not verify the seed supplied by the recovering party. An attacker can therefore stand up a rogue Coordinator whose manifest passes validation but whose secret seed is attacker-controlled. If network traffic is redirected from the legitimate Coordinator to the attacker's Coordinator, a workload owner can be impersonated when they either set a new manifest without comparing the returned root CA certificate against the existing one (the default behavior of the contrast CLI) or verify the Coordinator without comparing the root CA certificate against a trusted reference. Under these conditions the attacker can issue certificates that chain back to the rogue Coordinator's root CA and recover arbitrary workload secrets of workloads deployed after the attack. Secrets of the legitimate Coordinator (seed, workload secrets, CA), workload integrity, and certificates chaining to the mesh CA are not affected.

Weakness: CWE-285 (Improper Authorization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-71426?

3 open source packages ship an affected version, including github.com/edgelesssys/contrast.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `github.com/edgelesssys/contrast` | Go | All versions | 1.4.1 |
| `github.com/edgelesssys/contrast` | Go | All versions | 1.4.1 |
| `github.com/edgelesssys/contrast` | Go | All versions | 1.4.1 |

## How do I fix CVE-2025-71426?

Upgrade github.com/edgelesssys/contrast to 1.4.1 or later.

## Is CVE-2025-71426 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-71426 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-71426 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-71426 is a high-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in edgelesssys contrast, published on 27 Sep 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-71426 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- github.com/edgelesssys/contrast (Go): affected all versions; fixed in 1.4.1
- github.com/edgelesssys/contrast (Go): affected all versions; fixed in 1.4.1
- github.com/edgelesssys/contrast (Go): affected all versions; fixed in 1.4.1

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-71426/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-71426/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-71426
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-71426
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-71426

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-71426/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.