# CVE-2026-7163: Information disclosure in multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.1

> Authenticated users can retrieve administrative credentials for OpenShift clusters via exposed JWTs in download URLs, leading to full cluster compromise.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 30 Apr 2026
- **Updated:** 7 Sep 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-62pm-2jjw-mqpx

## What is CVE-2026-7163?

CVE-2026-7163 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Red Hat multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.1, published on 30 Apr 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the assisted-service REST API, an optional Assisted Installer (assisted-service) component in the Multicluster Engine (MCE), allows an authenticated user with minimal namespace-scoped privileges to obtain administrative credentials for arbitrary clusters provisioned through the hub. 

The credentials download endpoint (GET /v2/clusters/{cluster_id}/credentials, which returns the kubeadmin password) and the kubeconfig download endpoint are operational in AUTH_TYPE=local mode, the only authentication mode available in on-premises ACM/MCE hub deployments. The local authenticator unconditionally grants full administrative access to any request bearing a valid JWT, with no per-endpoint restrictions. A valid local JWT is embedded as a plaintext query parameter in InfraEnvStatus.ISODownloadURL and is readable by any user who has get rights on an InfraEnv object in their own namespace.

The affected components ship as part of Multicluster Engine (MCE). The Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (ACM) deployments that include MCE are equally affected.
This issue does not affect the hosted SaaS offering (console.redhat.com), which uses a different authentication mode.

Successful exploitation gives the attacker the kubeadmin password and kubeconfig for any OpenShift cluster provisioned through the affected hub, granting unrestricted root-level administrative access to those spoke clusters.

Weakness: CWE-312 (Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-7163?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Redhat Multicluster Engine for Kubernetes.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-7163?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-7163 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-7163 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-7163 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-7163 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-7163 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Red Hat multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.1, published on 30 Apr 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-7163 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Red Hat multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.1. 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-2026-7163/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-7163/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-7163
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-7163
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-7163

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-7163/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.