# CVE-2026-122316: Kyverno NamespacedMutatingPolicy missing authorization in mutate-existing

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-122316-kyverno-from-1-17-0-before-1-19-2-contains-a-missing  
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-2026-122316 · Severity: high · CVSS 8.5 · Published 2026-11-05

Kyverno is a Kubernetes policy enforcement system that controls what workloads can run on a cluster. A tenant with permissions to create policies in their own namespace can exploit a missing authorization check to modify any resource cluster-wide, including critical Namespace objects and Pod Security policies, potentially stripping security controls across the entire cluster.

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

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2026-122316 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-122316 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2026-122316?** High severity, with a CVSS score of 8.5, published 5 November 2026.

**Which products and versions are affected?** Kyverno 1.17.0 through 1.18.2.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2026-122316?** 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-2026-122316 attacked?** It is attacked over the network.

**Am I affected by CVE-2026-122316?** 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 missing authorization check in the CEL mutate-existing background processor (pkg/background/mpol/processor.go) that allows a NamespacedMutatingPolicy to target and modify resources outside its intended namespace. The processor resolves target resources with no validation that they belong to the policy's namespace, and writes them using the highly-privileged background-controller ServiceAccount with no SubjectAccessReview guard. An attacker can author a policy targeting cluster-scoped Namespace objects or use CEL expressions to reach arbitrary victim-namespace resources.

## Affected products

- Kyverno Kyverno 1.17.0 through 1.18.2

## Timeline

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

## References

- [https://github.com/kyverno/kyverno/security/advisories/GHSA-vm98-8c25-h274](https://github.com/kyverno/kyverno/security/advisories/GHSA-vm98-8c25-h274)
- [https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/kyverno-1.17.0-before-1.19.2-cross-namespace-write-via-namespacedmutatingpolicy-mutateexisting](https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/kyverno-1.17.0-before-1.19.2-cross-namespace-write-via-namespacedmutatingpolicy-mutateexisting)

## 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)