CVE-2026-73245: Kestra Unauthenticated Management/actuator Endpoints Exposed On Vulnerability

{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-hpj9-grjp-7vc7",
  "modified" : "2026-09-17T17:17:55Z",
  "published" : "2026-09-17T17:17:55Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-73245" ],
  "summary" : "Kestra: Unauthenticated management/actuator endpoints exposed on port 8081 (/env, /loggers) bypass API basic-auth",
  "details" : "## Summary\nKestra's Micronaut **management endpoints are served on port 8081 with no authentication**, even when the main API (port 8080) has basic-auth enabled. Anyone who can reach `:8081` can read `GET /env` (full resolved environment/configuration) and mutate runtime state via `POST /loggers/{name}` (change log levels), among the other management endpoints. Enabling basic-auth creates a false sense of protection because the auth filter only covers `/api/v1/**` on 8080 and never applies to the 8081 management port. The shipped repository contains no statement that 8081 is management-only / must-not-be-exposed, and the vendor's reference `docker-compose.yml` publishes it with no warning.\n \n## Affected\n- Product: Kestra (`kestra-io/kestra`), an open-source orchestration/data-pipeline platform (Java / Micronaut).\n- Version: **v1.3.29** (confirmed); the management-port exposure is an insecure default of the shipped configuration.\n- No fix at time of report.\n## Technical detail\nKestra runs the Micronaut management/actuator endpoints on a separate HTTP port **8081**. The authentication filter (basic-auth, when configured) is scoped to the main API on port 8080 (`/api/v1/**`) and does not apply to 8081. As a result:\n- `GET http://<host>:8081/env` returns the full resolved environment/configuration (property sources), unauthenticated.\n- `POST http://<host>:8081/loggers/{name}` changes a logger's level at runtime, unauthenticated (a state-changing operation).\n- The other Micronaut management endpoints on 8081 are similarly reachable.\nThe shipped `application.yml` comments, `SECURITY.md`, and the vendor's reference `docker-compose.yml` do not warn that 8081 must be kept internal, and the reference compose publishes 8081, so a deployment that enables basic-auth on the API still exposes the management port with no auth.\n \n## Impact\nAn unauthenticated network client that can reach port 8081 can read the full application configuration/environment (`/env`) and change runtime logging (`/loggers`), and reach the other management endpoints — an authentication-bypass on the management surface. (Sensitive credential values in `/env` are masked, so this is scored without a full-secret-read confidentiality impact.)\n \n## Proof of concept\nReproduced live on Kestra v1.3.29 with basic-auth enabled on the main API. Unauthenticated `GET http://<host>:8081/env` returned `200` with the resolved configuration/property sources, and `POST http://<host>:8081/loggers/{name}` returned `200` and changed the logger level — both with no credentials. The equivalent main-API request on 8080 returned `401` (control), confirming the auth filter covers only the API port and not the 8081 management port. (Credential values in `/env` were masked.)\n \nFull request/response captures available on request.\n \n## Remediation\nApply authentication to the management port (bind the Micronaut management endpoints behind the same auth as the API, or require a separate management credential), and by default bind port 8081 to loopback only. At minimum, document prominently (SECURITY.md, application.yml, the reference docker-compose) that port 8081 must never be exposed to untrusted networks, and do not publish 8081 in the reference compose.\n \n## Credit\nReported by **Santosh Kumar Puppala** (GitHub: https://github.com/Santoshkumarpuppala).",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Maven",
      "name" : "io.kestra:kestra"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "2.0.0"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/kestra-io/kestra/security/advisories/GHSA-hpj9-grjp-7vc7"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-73245"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/kestra-io/kestra"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-306" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-09-17T17:17:55Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2026-08-11T22:19:05Z"
  }
}