# CVE-2026-77968: Hawtio-operator: hawtio-operator: cluster-wide secrets read/write granted to operator serviceaccount

> Compromised operator pod gains cluster-wide read access to all secrets due to overly permissive RBAC configuration.

- **Severity:** High 8.2 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 8 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 8 Sep 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-r6x8-cqxr-wwp4

## What is CVE-2026-77968?

CVE-2026-77968 is a high-severity vulnerability in Red Hat build of Apache Camel - HawtIO 4, published on 8 Sep 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A flaw was found in hawtio-operator. The operator's ClusterRole grants secrets: [create, get, list, update, watch] across all namespaces. While the operator uses a controller-runtime label-selector cache as a memory optimization, the ServiceAccount token authorizes read access to every Secret in the cluster. The operator also bypasses the cache via direct API calls. Compromise of the operator pod would yield read access to every Secret in the cluster, including bootstrap tokens, cloud credentials, and other operators' secrets.

Weakness: CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-77968?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-77968?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-77968 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-77968 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-77968 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-77968 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-77968 is a high-severity vulnerability in Red Hat build of Apache Camel - HawtIO 4, published on 8 Sep 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-77968 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Red Hat build of Apache Camel - HawtIO 4. 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-2026-77968/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-77968/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-77968
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-77968
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-77968

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-77968/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.