# CVE-2026-11769: Operator - Namespaced User Path Traversal

> A path traversal in Grafana Operator allows malicious users to steal Kubernetes service account tokens via jsonnet resources.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.4 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 13 Jun 2026
- **Updated:** 27 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-fcw4-wwqm-m8cf, GO-2026-5355, MINI-f6q2-xmm5-jcr8, MINI-qmcw-8v3x-fj88

## What is CVE-2026-11769?

CVE-2026-11769 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Grafana Operator, published on 13 Jun 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

We have released version 5.24.0 of the Grafana Operator. This patch includes a MEDIUM severity security fix for a path traversal/privilege escalation vulnerability in the Grafana Operator.

### Summary

The Grafana Operator supports loading dashboards & library panels using the jsonnet data templating language. The jsonnet expression is evaluated in the context of the operator manager pod.

### Impact

It is possible for a malicious user who can create Dashboard or LibraryPanel resources for a Grafana instance to obtain the Kubernetes service account token of the Grafana Operator manager.

### Affected versions

All Grafana Operator versions <= 5.23

### Solutions and mitigations

All installations should be upgraded as soon as possible.

As a workaround, the following ValidatingAdmissionPolicy prevent the creation or modification of jsonnet based resources:

apiVersion: admissionregistration.k8s.io/v1
kind: ValidatingAdmissionPolicy
metadata:
  name: "prevent-jsonnet-dashboards"
spec:
  failurePolicy: Fail
  matchConstraints:
    resourceRules:
      - apiGroups: ["grafana.integreatly.org"]
        apiVersions: ["v1beta1"]
        operations: ["CREATE", "UPDATE"]
        resources: ["grafanadashboards", "grafanalibrarypanels"]
  validations:
    - expression: "!has(object.spec.jsonnetLib)"
---
apiVersion: admissionregistration.k8s.io/v1
kind: ValidatingAdmissionPolicyBinding
metadata:
  name: "prevent-jsonnet-dashboards-clusterwide"
spec:
  policyName: "prevent-jsonnet-dashboards"
  validationActions: [Deny]

### Acknowledgement

We would like to thank Artem Cherezov for responsibly disclosing the vulnerability.

Weakness: CWE-22 (Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-11769?

8 open source packages ship an affected version, including github.com/grafana/grafana-operator, github.com/grafana/grafana-operator/v3 and github.com/grafana/grafana-operator/v4. It affects 1 product.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `github.com/grafana/grafana-operator` | Go | All versions | None |
| `github.com/grafana/grafana-operator` | Go | All versions to 2.0.0 | None |
| `github.com/grafana/grafana-operator` | Go | All versions to 2.0.0 | None |
| `github.com/grafana/grafana-operator/v3` | Go | All versions | None |
| `github.com/grafana/grafana-operator/v4` | Go | All versions | None |
| `github.com/grafana/grafana-operator/v5` | Go | All versions | 5.24.0 |
| `github.com/grafana/grafana-operator/v5` | Go | All versions | 5.24.0 |
| `github.com/grafana/grafana-operator/v5` | Go | All versions | 5.24.0 |

Products: Grafana Grafana Operator.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-11769?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2026-11769 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-11769 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-11769 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-11769 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Grafana Operator, published on 13 Jun 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-11769 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- github.com/grafana/grafana-operator (Go): affected all versions; no fix listed
- github.com/grafana/grafana-operator (Go): affected all versions up to 2.0.0; no fix listed
- github.com/grafana/grafana-operator (Go): affected all versions up to 2.0.0; no fix listed
- github.com/grafana/grafana-operator/v3 (Go): affected all versions; no fix listed
- github.com/grafana/grafana-operator/v4 (Go): affected all versions; no fix listed
- github.com/grafana/grafana-operator/v5 (Go): affected all versions; fixed in 5.24.0
- github.com/grafana/grafana-operator/v5 (Go): affected all versions; fixed in 5.24.0
- github.com/grafana/grafana-operator/v5 (Go): affected all versions; fixed in 5.24.0

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-2026-11769/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-11769/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-11769
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-11769
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-11769

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-11769/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.