← Vulnerability feed

Vulnerability record · CVE-2024-45041 · published 9 September 2024

CVE-2024-45041: External-secrets external secrets operator improper privilege management vulnerability

External Secrets · External Secrets Operator

External Secrets Operator is a Kubernetes operator that integrates external secret management systems. The external-secrets has a deployment called default-external-secrets-cert-controller, which is bound with a same-name ClusterRole. This ClusterRole has "get/list" verbs of secrets resources. It also has path/update verb of validatingwebhookconfigurations resources. This can be used to abuse the SA token of the deployment to retrieve or get ALL secrets in the whole cluster, capture and log all data from requests attempting to update Secrets, or make a webhook deny all Pod create and update requests. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.10.2.

8.8 CVSS 3.1 High EPSS 0.59% · top 53.9% CWE-269 · Improper privilege managementCWE-732 · Incorrect permission assignment
8.8CVSS 3.1 base score
0.59%EPSS exploitation probability, 30 days
NoNot in CISA KEV
1Affected product versions listed by NVD
2References
17 Jun 2026Last modified by NVD

Description

External Secrets Operator is a Kubernetes operator that integrates external secret management systems. The external-secrets has a deployment called default-external-secrets-cert-controller, which is bound with a same-name ClusterRole. This ClusterRole has "get/list" verbs of secrets resources. It also has path/update verb of validatingwebhookconfigurations resources. This can be used to abuse the SA token of the deployment to retrieve or get ALL secrets in the whole cluster, capture and log all data from requests attempting to update Secrets, or make a webhook deny all Pod create and update requests. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.10.2.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected products

1 vulnerable configurations from NVD's CPE data, grouped by vendor and product.

References

LinkTags
https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/commit/428a452fd2ad45935312f2c2c0d40bc37ce6e67c Patch
https://github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets/security/advisories/GHSA-qwgc-rr35-h4x9 Vendor Advisory

Track CVE-2024-45041 inside VULONE

Watch it alongside the ransomware crews, C2 infrastructure and forum chatter that reference it, query it through the API and pull it into your SIEM over TAXII.

Start free Open in platform

Related vulnerabilities

Same products first, then exploited flaws of the same weakness class.

9.8CVE-2024-36540External-secrets external secrets operator vulnerabilityInsecure permissions in external-secrets v0.9.16 allows attackers to access sensitive data and escalate privileges by obtaining the service account's…EPSS 0.42%9.3CVE-2026-22822External-secrets external secrets operator incorrect authorization vulnerabilityExternal Secrets Operator reads information from a third-party service and automatically injects the values as Kubernetes Secrets. Starting in versio…EPSS 0.19%7.1CVE-2026-34984External-secrets external secrets operator information exposure vulnerabilityExternal Secrets Operator reads information from a third-party service and automatically injects the values as Kubernetes Secrets. Versions 2.2.0 and…EPSS 0.45%9.9CVE-2026-84869ScreenConnect client allows unauthorized file transfer and execution in remote sessionsA flaw in the ConnectWise ScreenConnect client lets files be transferred and executed inside an active remote session without authorization or Host c…KEVEPSS 0.92%analysed9.8CVE-2026-46817Oracle E-Business Suite Payments missing authentication allows takeoverOracle Payments in Oracle E-Business Suite 12.2.3 through 12.2.15 contains an easily exploitable flaw in the File Transmission component. An unauthen…KEVEPSS 0.81%analysed7.8CVE-2026-21533Windows Remote Desktop improper privilege management allows local elevationWindows Remote Desktop contains an improper privilege management flaw (CWE-269) that lets an authorized attacker elevate privileges locally. It affec…KEVEPSS 4.1%analysed5.1CVE-2024-8068Citrix Session Recording privilege escalation to NetworkServiceCitrix Session Recording contains an improper privilege management flaw (CWE-269) that lets an authenticated attacker escalate to the NetworkService …KEVEPSS 3.5%analysed9.8CVE-2024-49035Microsoft Partner Center improper access control allows privilege elevationPartner.Microsoft.com contains an improper access control flaw (CWE-269) that lets an unauthenticated attacker elevate privileges over the network. M…KEVEPSS 1.3%analysed

Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database (record CVE-2024-45041), CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS (scores of 2026-09-27). This page is refreshed as NVD updates the record.