# CVE-2026-22728: sealed-secrets /v1/rotate can widen sealing scope to cluster-wide via attacker-controlled template annotations

> Attackers can bypass namespace restrictions to decrypt secrets cluster-wide by injecting annotations during rotation, exposing sensitive credentials.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.9 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 26 Feb 2026
- **Updated:** 26 Feb 2026
- **Also known as:** BIT-sealed-secrets-2026-22728, GHSA-465p-v42x-3fmj, GO-2026-4565

## What is CVE-2026-22728?

CVE-2026-22728 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Bitnami sealed-secrets, published on 26 Feb 2026. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Bitnami Sealed Secrets is vulnerable to a scope-widening attack during
the secret rotation (/v1/rotate) flow. The rotation handler derives the
sealing scope for the newly encrypted output from untrusted
spec.template.metadata.annotations present in the input SealedSecret.
By submitting a victim SealedSecret to the rotate endpoint with the
annotation sealedsecrets.bitnami.com/cluster-wide=true injected into the
template metadata, a remote attacker can obtain a rotated version of the
secret that is cluster-wide. This bypasses original "strict" or
"namespace-wide" constraints, allowing the attacker to retarget and unseal
the secret in any namespace or under any name to recover the plaintext
credentials.

Weakness: CWE-284 (Improper Access Control)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-22728?

4 open source packages ship an affected version, including github.com/bitnami-labs/sealed-secrets and sealed-secrets.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `github.com/bitnami-labs/sealed-secrets` | Go | All versions | 0.36.0 |
| `github.com/bitnami-labs/sealed-secrets` | Go | All versions | 0.36.0 |
| `github.com/bitnami-labs/sealed-secrets` | Go | All versions | 0.36.0 |
| `sealed-secrets` | Bitnami | All versions | 0.36.0 |

## How do I fix CVE-2026-22728?

Upgrade github.com/bitnami-labs/sealed-secrets to 0.36.0 or later.

## Is CVE-2026-22728 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-22728 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-22728 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-22728 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Bitnami sealed-secrets, published on 26 Feb 2026. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-22728 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- github.com/bitnami-labs/sealed-secrets (Go): affected all versions; fixed in 0.36.0
- github.com/bitnami-labs/sealed-secrets (Go): affected all versions; fixed in 0.36.0
- github.com/bitnami-labs/sealed-secrets (Go): affected all versions; fixed in 0.36.0
- sealed-secrets (Bitnami): affected all versions; fixed in 0.36.0

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-2026-22728/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-22728/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-22728
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-22728
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-22728

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-22728/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.