# CVE-2026-18950: Odh-dashboard: odh-dashboard: confused-deputy privilege escalation via unchecked roleref in rolebinding creation

> Authenticated users can escalate privileges to cluster-admin by exploiting unchecked roleRef validation in RoleBinding creation within the OpenShift AI dashboard.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **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:** 28 Sep 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-jcjp-44w9-2wwj

## What is CVE-2026-18950?

CVE-2026-18950 is a high-severity vulnerability in Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI), 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 odh-dashboard. An authenticated user of the dashboard can exploit a vulnerability related to how RoleBindings are created. The system does not properly validate the `roleRef` field, allowing a user to specify an arbitrary role, including highly privileged ones like `cluster-admin`. This can lead to privilege escalation, where an attacker gains unauthorized elevated access within their namespace and potentially persistent control over the system.

Weakness: CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management), CWE-266 (Incorrect Privilege Assignment)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-18950?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-18950?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-18950 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-18950 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-18950 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-18950 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-18950 is a high-severity vulnerability in Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI), 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-2026-18950 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI). 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-2026-18950/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-18950/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-18950
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-18950
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-18950

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-18950/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.