Description
The StreamsHub Console operator acts as a confused deputy: a Kubernetes tenant with permission to create a Console custom resource can set spec.kafkaClusters[].credentials.kafkaUser.namespace to any namespace. The operator, running with cluster-wide Secrets RBAC, reads the victim-namespace KafkaUser Secret (SASL credentials or TLS private keys) and writes the plaintext material into a Secret in the attacker's namespace. No same-namespace check or allowlist exists anywhere in the code path.
Published: 2026-10-20
Score: 7.7 High
EPSS: < 1% Very Low
KEV: No
Impact: Secret exfiltration
Action: Apply mitigations
AI Analysis

Impact

The StreamsHub Console operator can act as a confused deputy, allowing a tenant who can create a Console custom resource to specify an arbitrary KafkaUser namespace. The operator, running with cluster‑wide Secrets permissions, reads the victim namespace’s KafkaUser secret—containing SASL credentials or TLS private keys—and writes that sensitive data into a new Secret within the attacker’s namespace. This flaw (CWE‑441) permits unauthorized disclosure of authentication material, potentially enabling attackers to impersonate or access Kafka clusters, thereby compromising confidentiality and integrity of the data stream.

Affected Systems

All Red Hat StreamsHub Console for Apache Kafka and Red Hat streams for Apache Kafka versions 2 and 3 are affected. These products include the Console operator that lacks a same‑namespace validation or allowlist for the kafkaUser.namespace field.

Risk and Exploitability

With a CVSS score of 7.7, the vulnerability is considered high severity. The EPSS score is not available, and the vulnerability is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog. The likely attack vector involves a tenant creating a Console CR with a remotely specified kafkaUser.namespace; if the tenant has permission to create Console CRs, all cluster‑wide Secrets can be read and exfiltrated. Once the attacker obtains the KafkaUser secret, they can potentially authenticate to any Kafka cluster within the tenant’s scope, giving them broad access.

Generated by OpenCVE AI on October 20, 2026 at 14:15 UTC.

Remediation

Vendor Workaround

1. Restrict Console CR RBAC — remove create/update verbs on consoles.console.streamshub.github.com from tenant-facing roles. Only trusted cluster administrators should manage Console CRs. 2. Audit existing Console CRs — review all Console CRs for kafkaUser.namespace fields pointing outside the CR's own namespace. 3. Network policy (defense-in-depth) — apply NetworkPolicy to restrict operator pod egress. --- CME Mitigation Guidance (2026-10-20) --- Disclaimer: The following mitigation solutions are provided as a courtesy, pending the application of an official patch. This content was generated utilizing AI tools in conjunction with data from https://cmetaxonomy.org. Customers are advised to independently evaluate and test these temporary mitigations within their own infrastructure. The highest-value action is to enforce strict same-namespace boundary validation on KafkaUser credentials namespace references in Console Operator custom resources to prevent cross-namespace Secret reads: upgrade to the fixed Console Operator builds, which enforce an assertNamespaceAllowed() guard with a same-namespace default check when reading KafkaUser namespace configuration, closing all 2 injection vectors (Console custom resource namespace manipulation, cross-namespace Secret reference). Until patched, this is a concern on Kubernetes clusters running Console Operator where non-admin users have create or update permissions on Console custom resources, so Remove create and update permissions on Console custom resources from tenant roles and audit existing custom resources for kafkaUser.namespace values pointing outside their own namespace. As a compensating measure, Configure Kubernetes API server audit logging to record Console custom resource modifications and cross-namespace Secret read operations performed by the operator service account. These controls limit blast radius and contain exploitation, but they do not fix the underlying confused deputy cross-namespace access defect — apply the upstream patch to fully remediate. Highest-impact CME: CME-711 Admission Controller Policy Enforcement (OPA/Gatekeeper/Kyverno) (high)

OpenCVE Recommended Actions

  • Restrict Console CR RBAC, removing create/update verbs on consoles.console.streamshub.github.com from tenant‑facing roles so only trusted cluster administrators manage Console CRs.
  • Audit existing Console CRs, reviewing all kafkaUser.namespace fields to ensure they do not point outside the CR’s own namespace.
  • Apply a NetworkPolicy to the operator pod to restrict egress traffic, adding a layer of defense in depth.

Generated by OpenCVE AI on October 20, 2026 at 14:15 UTC.

Tracking

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History

Wed, 21 Oct 2026 21:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Wed, 21 Oct 2026 00:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

 threat_severity

Important

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 12:45:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description The StreamsHub Console operator acts as a confused deputy: a Kubernetes tenant with permission to create a Console custom resource can set spec.kafkaClusters[].credentials.kafkaUser.namespace to any namespace. The operator, running with cluster-wide Secrets RBAC, reads the victim-namespace KafkaUser Secret (SASL credentials or TLS private keys) and writes the plaintext material into a Secret in the attacker's namespace. No same-namespace check or allowlist exists anywhere in the code path.
Title Console-operator: streams for apache kafka console: cross-namespace kafkauser secret exfiltration via confused deputy
First Time appeared Redhat
Redhat amq Streams
Weaknesses CWE-441
CPEs cpe:/a:redhat:amq_streams:2
cpe:/a:redhat:amq_streams:3
Vendors & Products Redhat
Redhat amq Streams
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 7.7, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N'}

Subscriptions

Redhat Amq Streams
cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: redhat

Published:

Updated: 2026-11-03T16:53:56.145Z

Reserved: 2026-10-05T07:03:59.012Z

Link: CVE-2026-105311

cve-icon Vulnrichment

Updated: 2026-10-21T20:44:08.899Z

cve-icon NVD

Status : Awaiting Analysis

Published: 2026-10-20T12:17:28.550

Modified: 2026-11-03T17:17:53.173

Link: CVE-2026-105311

cve-icon Redhat

Severity : Important

Publid Date: 2026-10-20T11:00:00Z

Links: CVE-2026-105311 - Bugzilla

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-10-20T14:30:14Z

Weaknesses
  • CWE-441

    Unintended Proxy or Intermediary ('Confused Deputy')