# CVE-2026-54099: Privilege escalation in Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4

> A compromised Windows node can obtain cluster-admin privileges by submitting a Certificate Signing Request with extra organization fields, enabling full cluster takeover.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 22 Jun 2026
- **Updated:** 14 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-x82v-328r-gf3h

## What is CVE-2026-54099?

CVE-2026-54099 is a high-severity vulnerability in Redhat Openshift Container Platform, published on 22 Jun 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A flaw was found in the Windows Machine Config Operator (WMCO) for Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform. The WICD CSR auto-approver validates that a Certificate Signing Request contains the organization system:wicd-nodes but does not reject additional organization values such as system:masters. A compromised Windows worker node that holds WICD credentials can submit a CSR that is auto-approved and signed by the cluster, yielding a client certificate that grants cluster-administrator privileges and enabling full cluster takeover.

Weakness: CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-54099?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Redhat Openshift Container Platform, Redhat Windows Machine Config Operator.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-54099?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-54099 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-54099 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-54099 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Redhat Openshift Container Platform

- [CVE-2020-27836](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-27836/): Missing authorization in cluster-ingress-operator (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2018-1085](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-1085/): Misconfiguration in openshift-ansible (critical 9.0)
- [CVE-2026-1784](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-1784/): Ose-cluster-ingress-operator: remote code execution through haproxy configuration injection (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2021-20182](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-20182/): Privilege escalation in openshift (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2019-0542](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-0542/): xterm vulnerable to remote code execution (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-54099 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-54099 is a high-severity vulnerability in Redhat Openshift Container Platform, published on 22 Jun 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-54099 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Redhat Openshift Container Platform. 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-2026-54099/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-54099/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-54099
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-54099
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-54099

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-54099/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.