CVE-2026-55226: Strimzi Unrestricted Access To All Secrets Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-r427-j2h7-wv3m
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CVSS 5.4
CWE-269 CWE-272
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2026-55226 is a MODERATE (CVSS 5.4) unrestricted access to all secrets vulnerability (CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management) affecting Strimzi libraries in the Maven ecosystem. The issue involves unrestricted access to all secrets within namespace watched by the topic operator. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 1.0.1.

CVE-2026-55226 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2026-55226
GHSA Identifier GHSA-r427-j2h7-wv3m
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 5.4
CWE Classification CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management
Affected Product Strimzi
Package Ecosystem Maven
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 5.4

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N).

Attack Vector Adjacent (AV:A)
Attack Complexity High (AC:H)
Privileges Required Low (PR:L)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity Low (I:L)
Availability None (A:N)

How to Fix CVE-2026-55226

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Strimzi dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

io.strimzi:strimzi fixed: 1.0.1 
<dependency>
    <groupId>io.strimzi</groupId>
    <artifactId>strimzi</artifactId>
    <version>1.0.1</version>
</dependency>
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=io.strimzi

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Java application is affected by CVE-2026-55226, inspect your build dependencies using the Maven Dependency Plugin:

mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=io.strimzi

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Strimzi in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 1.0.1), your application is affected.

Note: The mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=io.strimzi command inspects the resolved dependency graph declared in your project's POM files; it does not perform automated security scanning or inspect runtime dynamic classpaths. Always verify runtime container classpaths and shaded JARs.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management, where the product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor. In Strimzi, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

### Impact When only the Topic or only the User operators are deployed as part of the Entity Operator in the `Kafka` custom resource, the RBAC rights are not following the principle of least-privilege and the Entity Operator ServiceAccount still has access rights corresponding to both operators. That might allow the ServiceAccount to access `KafkaUser` custom resources and Secrets when the User operator is not deployed and access `KafkaTopic` custom resources when the Topic operator is not deployed. ### Patches The issue is fixed in Strimzi 1.0.1 and 1.1.0. ### Workarounds There is no workaround for this issue.

CVE-2026-55226 Affected Strimzi Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
1.0.1
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
io.strimzi:strimzi
maven/io.strimzi/strimzi
Maven
< 1.0.1
1.0.1

References

GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/strimzi/strimzi-kafka-operator/security/advisories/GHSA-r427-j2h7-wv3m
Strimzi Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/strimzi/strimzi-kafka-operator

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-55226?
CVE-2026-55226 is a security vulnerability in Strimzi involving Unrestricted access to all Secrets within namespace watched by the Topic operator under CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management.
Which Strimzi versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 1.0.1 across affected packages: io.strimzi:strimzi.
What version fixes CVE-2026-55226?
Upgrading to 1.0.1 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is strimzi affected?
Yes, io.strimzi:strimzi is affected in releases prior to 1.0.1. Upgrade your dependency to 1.0.1 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-55226?
CVE-2026-55226 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.4 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2026-55226?
CVE-2026-55226 is classified under CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management (The product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor.).
How can I check Maven dependencies for CVE-2026-55226?
Run the dependency tree command: 'mvn dependency:tree -Dincludes=io.strimzi'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-r427-j2h7-wv3m",
  "modified" : "2026-06-18T13:04:49Z",
  "published" : "2026-06-18T13:04:49Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2026-55226" ],
  "summary" : "Strimzi: Unrestricted access to all Secrets within namespace watched by the Topic operator",
  "details" : "### Impact\n\nWhen only the Topic or only the User operators are deployed as part of the Entity Operator in the `Kafka` custom resource, the RBAC rights are not following the principle of least-privilege and the Entity Operator ServiceAccount still has access rights corresponding to both operators. That might allow the ServiceAccount to access `KafkaUser` custom resources and Secrets when the User operator is not deployed and access `KafkaTopic` custom resources when the Topic operator is not deployed.\n\n### Patches\n\nThe issue is fixed in Strimzi 1.0.1 and 1.1.0.\n\n### Workarounds\n\nThere is no workaround for this issue.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Maven",
      "name" : "io.strimzi:strimzi"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "1.0.1"
      } ]
    } ],
    "database_specific" : {
      "last_known_affected_version_range" : "<= 1.0.0"
    }
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/strimzi/strimzi-kafka-operator/security/advisories/GHSA-r427-j2h7-wv3m"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/strimzi/strimzi-kafka-operator"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-269", "CWE-272" ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2026-06-18T13:04:49Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}