# CVE-2025-71426: Edgeless Systems Contrast Coordinator impersonation via unauthenticated recovery

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2025-71426-contrast-is-a-confidential-computing-runtime-for-kubernetes-in  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2026-09-27. Updated: 2026-09-27  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2025-71426 · Severity: high · CVSS 7.1 · Published 2026-09-27

Contrast is a confidential-computing runtime that manages encrypted workloads in Kubernetes clusters. Versions before 1.4.1 fail to verify the identity of recovering Coordinators, allowing an attacker to impersonate the legitimate Coordinator through network redirection and trick workload owners into using the attacker's system. This enables the attacker to issue forged certificates and steal secrets of workloads deployed after the attack, provided the user skips the default verification step.

Technologies: [Edgeless Systems Contrast](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/contrast). Vendors: [Edgeless Systems](https://junglewise.ai/threats/vendors/edgeless-systems).

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2025-71426 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2025-71426 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2025-71426?** High severity, with a CVSS score of 7.1, published 27 September 2026.

**Which products and versions are affected?** Edgeless Systems Contrast before 1.4.1.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2025-71426?** A patch was published on 2025-02-05: Version 1.4.1 released Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.

**How is CVE-2025-71426 attacked?** It is attacked over the network.

**Am I affected by CVE-2025-71426?** Check whether you run Edgeless Systems Contrast at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

## Technical details

The Coordinator recovery mechanism accepts a seed value from the recovering party without cryptographic verification, enabling an attacker to deploy a rogue Coordinator with a valid manifest but attacker-controlled secrets. If network traffic is redirected and users fail to compare the returned root CA certificate against a trusted reference (default contrast CLI behavior), the attacker can issue fraudulent certificates and recover arbitrary workload secrets. The legitimate Coordinator's secrets, workload integrity, and mesh CA remain unaffected.

## Affected products

- Edgeless Systems Contrast before 1.4.1

## Timeline

- 2025-02-05: disclosed
- 2025-02-05: patched: Version 1.4.1 released

## References

- [https://github.com/edgelesssys/contrast/security/advisories/GHSA-vqv5-385r-2hf8](https://github.com/edgelesssys/contrast/security/advisories/GHSA-vqv5-385r-2hf8)
- [https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/contrast-before-1.4.1-coordinator-impersonation-via-unauthenticated-recovery](https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/contrast-before-1.4.1-coordinator-impersonation-via-unauthenticated-recovery)

## Related threats

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