# CVE-2026-71566: KubeVirt backend is not authenticated

> Attackers can control other users' VMs and mount arbitrary images because KubeVirt ignores provided credentials, relying only on mounted KUBECONFIG.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 17 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 17 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-qpfr-jqjq-v83w

## What is CVE-2026-71566?

CVE-2026-71566 is a critical missing authorization vulnerability in openshift-metal3 fakefish, published on 17 Aug 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

FakeFish handles incoming credentials by passing them down
 to scripts. This works for real hardware because in the end it's up to 
the BMC to validate them. However, KubeVirt relies on a KUBECONFIG file 
mounted to the container and completely ignores the credentials. This allows any user of the cluster to control VMs of the 
user that created fakefish, power them on and off, and mount arbitrary CD
 images to them.

Weakness: CWE-306 (Missing Authentication for Critical Functionality)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-71566?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-71566?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-71566 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-71566 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-71566 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-71566 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-71566 is a critical missing authorization vulnerability in openshift-metal3 fakefish, published on 17 Aug 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-71566 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: openshift-metal3 fakefish. 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-2026-71566/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-71566/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-71566
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-71566
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-71566

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-71566/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.