CVE-2026-53576 Kestra: Unauthenticated RCE via /configs path-suffix auth-filter bypass
Unauthenticated attackers can bypass authentication to create and execute malicious flows, achieving root code execution within the container and potentially the host.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2026-53576?
CVE-2026-53576 is a critical authentication bypass vulnerability in kestra-io kestra, published on 26 Jun 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
Kestra is an open-source, event-driven orchestration platform. Prior to 1.0.45 and 1.3.21, the authentication filter for the REST API (@Filter("/api/v1/**")) treats any request whose path ends in /configs as the public instance-config endpoint and forwards it without a credential check. kestra addresses its resources by URL path segments that the caller chooses (/api/v1/{tenant}/flows/{namespace}, /api/v1/{tenant}/executions/{namespace}/{id}, /api/v1/{tenant}/namespaces/{namespace}/kv/{key}). An anonymous caller picks the literal configs as the final segment, and the request bypasses Basic-Auth entirely. Because the bypass reaches the flow-create and execution-trigger routes, an unauthenticated caller creates a flow containing a Shell or Process task and runs it. The task executes as root inside the kestra container. The official docker-compose.yml mounts /var/run/docker.sock, so root in the container reaches the host Docker daemon. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.0.45 and 1.3.21.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-53576?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Kestra Kestra.
How do I fix CVE-2026-53576?
No fix has been published for CVE-2026-53576 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Upgrade, and rotate credentials and sessions that may have been exposed. More about Authentication bypass.
Is CVE-2026-53576 being exploited?
It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-53576 exists.
Public exploit code: 1 Nuclei template and 3 proofs of concept on GitHub.
Other vulnerabilities in kestra-io kestra
- CVE-2026-49869 Kestra OSS OS Command Injection
- CVE-2026-34612 Kestra: Remote Code Execution via SQL Injection
- CVE-2026-38428 SQL injection in n/a
- CVE-2026-55069 Kestra BasicAuth Password Stored as SHA-512 Enables Offline Brute-Force Attack
- CVE-2026-45807 Kestra: Path traversal via URL-encoded "%2E%2E" in execution and namespace file endpoints allows arbitrary file read
Sources
Also known as GHSA-2q47-568g-9h4f.