# CVE-2026-105986: Kong Gateway Enterprise privilege escalation via RBAC bypass

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-105986-incorrect-authorization-in-the-admin-api-rbac-of-kong-gateway  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2026-11-10. Updated: 2026-11-10  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2026-105986 · Severity: info · Published 2026-11-10

Kong Gateway Enterprise is an API management platform that controls access to backend services. A delegated administrator can escalate their privileges by exploiting an authorization flaw in the Admin API's role-based access control, either through percent-encoding tricks in role names or by self-assigning elevated roles, potentially gaining full control over the API gateway.

Technologies: [Kong Gateway Enterprise](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/gateway-enterprise). Vendors: [Kong](https://junglewise.ai/threats/vendors/kong).

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2026-105986 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-105986 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2026-105986?** Informational severity, published 10 November 2026.

**Which products and versions are affected?** Kong Gateway Enterprise.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2026-105986?** No fixed version is recorded yet. Check the vendor's advisory in the references below. If you run it, Junglewise drafts a mitigation that fits your setup and applies it once you approve, with senior security engineers behind it.

**How is CVE-2026-105986 attacked?** It is attacked over the network, in a hosted service.

**Am I affected by CVE-2026-105986?** Check whether you run Kong Gateway Enterprise. 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 vulnerability is an authorization bypass in Kong Gateway Enterprise's Admin API RBAC implementation. A delegated administrator (authenticated user with limited permissions) can exploit improper validation of role names to escalate privileges—either by using percent-encoded characters to bypass role name validation or by directly self-assigning roles they should not have access to. The attacker must have at least delegated admin credentials but can escalate to administrative control.

## Affected products

- Kong Gateway Enterprise

## Timeline

- 2026-11-10: disclosed

## References

- [https://developer.konghq.com/ai-gateway/changelog/](https://developer.konghq.com/ai-gateway/changelog/)
- [https://developer.konghq.com/gateway/changelog/](https://developer.konghq.com/gateway/changelog/)

## Related threats

- [Kong Gateway Enterprise ai-azure-content-safety plugin bypass](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-96437-the-ai-azure-content-safety-plugin-in-kong-gateway-enterprise)
- [Kong Gateway Enterprise cache key omission vulnerability](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-92545-the-proxy-cache-and-proxy-cache-advanced-plugins-in-kong-gateway)
- [Kong Gateway Enterprise cache poisoning via Authorization header](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-92443-the-caching-plugins-in-kong-gateway-enterprise-and-kong-ai)
- [Kong Gateway Enterprise graphql-proxy-cache-advanced cache key bypass](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-92442-the-graphql-proxy-cache-advanced-plugin-in-kong-gateway)
- [Kong Gateway Enterprise and Kong AI Gateway HTTP header injection via X-Forwarded-Prefix](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-92441-kong-gateway-enterprise-and-kong-ai-gateway-include-decoded-cr-lf)