# CVE-2026-122310: Kyverno privilege escalation to cluster admin via Policy apiCall urlPath

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-122310-kyverno-from-1-19-1-before-1-19-2-validates-a-policy-s-context  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2026-11-05. Updated: 2026-11-05  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2026-122310 · Severity: critical · CVSS 9.9 · Published 2026-11-05

Kyverno is a Kubernetes policy engine that validates and enforces rules on cluster resources. A namespace-scoped user with permission to create policies can exploit a path-parsing vulnerability to execute API calls against cluster-wide endpoints using Kyverno's administrative service account, effectively gaining cluster admin privileges. This allows the attacker to create webhooks and other objects that provide complete control over the Kubernetes cluster.

Technologies: [Kyverno](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/kyverno). Vendors: [Kyverno](https://junglewise.ai/threats/vendors/kyverno).

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2026-122310 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-122310 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2026-122310?** Critical severity, with a CVSS score of 9.9, published 5 November 2026.

**Which products and versions are affected?** Kyverno 1.19.1 before 1.19.2.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2026-122310?** Yes: fixed in 1.19.2. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.

**How is CVE-2026-122310 attacked?** It is attacked over the network, in a software library.

**Am I affected by CVE-2026-122310?** Check whether you run Kyverno 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.

## How to fix

- Fixed in 1.19.2

## Technical details

The vulnerability is a path traversal interpretation conflict (CWE-436) in context.apiCall URL path handling. Kyverno validates the cleaned URL path against namespace restrictions but executes the raw, unclean path; the Kubernetes client discards URL fragments (#) and queries (?), allowing ../ segments hidden behind these separators to traverse to cluster-scoped endpoints. An authenticated namespace-scoped user can create a namespaced Policy with a crafted context.apiCall urlPath to reach cluster-scoped API endpoints (like mutatingwebhookconfigurations) and execute requests with Kyverno's ServiceAccount privileges.

## Affected products

- Kyverno Kyverno 1.19.1 before 1.19.2

## Timeline

- 2026-10-21: disclosed
- 2026-11-05: advisory

## References

- [https://github.com/kyverno/kyverno/security/advisories/GHSA-3xfv-vq8x-qhg4](https://github.com/kyverno/kyverno/security/advisories/GHSA-3xfv-vq8x-qhg4)
- [https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/kyverno-1.19.1-before-1.19.2-privilege-escalation-via-policy-apicall-urlpath](https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/kyverno-1.19.1-before-1.19.2-privilege-escalation-via-policy-apicall-urlpath)

## Related threats

- [Kyverno authorization bypass in generate rule validation](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-124441-kyverno-before-1-19-2-contains-an-authorization-bypass)
- [Kyverno apiCall authorization bypass in namespace clamp](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-124440-kyverno-from-1-19-1-before-1-19-2-contains-an-authorization)
- [Kyverno unbounded decompression in notary signature fetch](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-122323-kyverno-from-1-11-0-before-1-19-2-contains-an-unbounded)
- [Kyverno verifyImages signature verification bypass via cache](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-122321-kyverno-1-18-0-before-1-19-2-contains-a-signature-verification)
- [Kyverno missing authorization in generate.clone namespace](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-122320-kyverno-before-1-19-2-contains-a-missing-authorization)