A flaw in Kyverno’s admission controller causes the resolved API request path to be executed with the controller’s ServiceAccount without verifying the policy’s namespace. Consequently, an attacker with rights to create a namespaced Policy can cause Kyverno to perform arbitrary Kubernetes API calls on behalf of the ServiceAccount, allowing them to read or modify resources across namespaces or create cluster‑level policies. The vulnerability falls under CWE‑269 and CWE‑918. Its impact can extend to compromising secrets, configuration, and the overall integrity of the cluster.

All Kyverno installations running a version older than 1.16.3 or 1.15.3 are affected. The fix is included in those patch releases, so any deployment that has not been updated to 1.16.3 or later, or 1.15.3 or later, remains vulnerable.

The CVSS score of 10 reflects the full authority an attacker gains once the policy is created. The EPSS score indicates that, at the time of assessment, widespread exploitation is unlikely but possible. The vulnerability is not listed in CISA’s KEV catalog. The attack vector is inferred to be a legitimate user action: any authenticated user authorized to create a policy can exploit the flaw by injecting a crafted urlPath. No additional privileges are required beyond policy creation rights.