# CVE-2026-18620: Data-sciences-pipeline: user-controlled serviceaccount for workflow pods without authorization check — confused deputy

> A restricted user can specify a privileged ServiceAccount to bypass authorization, enabling privilege escalation, secret disclosure, and command execution in other pods.

- **Severity:** High 7.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 10 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 21 Sep 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-g68c-wmxr-x3rh

## What is CVE-2026-18620?

CVE-2026-18620 is a high-severity vulnerability in Red Hat OpenShift AI 2.25, published on 10 Aug 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A flaw was found in Data Science Pipelines. A restricted user, or tenant, can exploit an improper authorization vulnerability in the setDefaultServiceAccount function. By specifying a more privileged ServiceAccount (SA) during a CreateRun request, an attacker can bypass authorization checks. This allows the tenant to run their containers with elevated privileges, potentially leading to the disclosure of sensitive information (secrets) and the ability to execute commands within other users' pods.

Weakness: CWE-639 (Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-18620?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-18620?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-18620 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-18620 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-18620 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-18620 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-18620 is a high-severity vulnerability in Red Hat OpenShift AI 2.25, published on 10 Aug 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-2026-18620 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Red Hat OpenShift AI 2.25. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

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-2026-18620/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-18620/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-18620
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-18620
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-18620

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-18620/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.