CVE-2026-55226 Strimzi: Unrestricted access to all Secrets within namespace watched by the Topic operator
Attackers can access unauthorized Secrets and custom resources due to excessive RBAC permissions when deploying only one Strimzi operator component.
- 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
What is CVE-2026-55226?
CVE-2026-55226 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in strimzi-kafka-operator, published on 15 Sep 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
Strimzi provides a way to run an Apache Kafka cluster on Kubernetes or OpenShift in various deployment configurations. In Strimzi 1.0.0 and earlier, deploying only the Topic Operator or only the User Operator through the Kafka custom resource leaves the Entity Operator ServiceAccount with RBAC permissions for both components. The excess permissions can allow access to KafkaUser custom resources and Secrets when the User Operator is absent, or access to KafkaTopic custom resources when the Topic Operator is absent. This issue is fixed in versions 1.0.1 and 1.1.0.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-55226?
2 open source packages ship an affected version, including io.strimzi:strimzi.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
io.strimzi:strimzi Maven | All versions | 1.0.1 |
io.strimzi:strimzi Maven | All versions | 1.0.1 |
How do I fix CVE-2026-55226?
Upgrade io.strimzi:strimzi to 1.0.1 or later.
Upgrade, and check permissions on every request on the server, not only in the interface. More about Missing authorization.
Is CVE-2026-55226 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-55226 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-r427-j2h7-wv3m.