CyberSecBulletin
CVE-2026-72508NVD status: Awaiting Analysis

Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for…: Execution with Unnecessary Privileges

Published Updated By the CyberSecBulletin desk

CVE-2026-72508 is a critical-severity execution with unnecessary privileges vulnerability in Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.11 from Red Hat, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.9 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an attacker with a low-privileged account, without any action from a user. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.81% chance of exploitation within 30 days, higher than 57% of scored CVEs.

Patch this week

Critical severity: a successful attack would have severe impact.

What to do

  1. Check which version of Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.11 you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
Red HatRed Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.11Not specified in the recordNot stated
Red HatRed Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.13Not specified in the recordNot stated
Red HatRed Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.14Not specified in the recordNot stated
Red HatRed Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.15Not specified in the recordNot stated
Red HatRed Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.16Not specified in the recordNot stated
Red HatRed Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.17Not specified in the recordNot stated

Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.

How the severity score breaks down

Attack vector
NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
Attack complexity
LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
Privileges required
LowA basic user account is enough.
User interaction
NoneNo action by a victim is required.
Scope
ChangedThe attack can reach beyond the vulnerable component into other systems.
Confidentiality
HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
Integrity
HighData or code can be modified at will.
Availability
HighThe component can be taken down completely.

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by CNA (redhat.com).

Official description

A flaw was found in the multicloud-operators-subscription component of Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM). This vulnerability allows a namespace-admin tenant to perform a confused-deputy attack by creating Subscription Custom Resources (CRs) that leverage a highly privileged ServiceAccount (SA). This enables the tenant to deploy arbitrary cluster-scoped resources, leading to privilege escalation and potential arbitrary code execution across the cluster.

Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.

The underlying weakness: Execution with Unnecessary Privileges

The product performs an operation at a privilege level that is higher than the minimum level required, which creates new weaknesses or amplifies the consequences of other weaknesses.

How developers prevent this class of flaw

  • Run your code using the lowest privileges that are required to accomplish the necessary tasks. If possible, create isolated accounts with limited privileges that are only used for a single task. That way, a successful attack will not immediately give the attacker access to the rest of the software or its environment. For example, database applications rarely need to run as the database administrator, especially in day-to-day operations.
  • Identify the functionality that requires additional privileges, such as access to privileged operating system resources. Wrap and centralize this functionality if possible, and isolate the privileged code as much as possible from other code. Raise privileges as late as possible, and drop them as soon as possible to avoid CWE-271. Avoid weaknesses such as CWE-288 and CWE-420 by protecting all possible communication channels that could interact with the privileged code, such as a secondary socket that is only intended to be accessed by administrators.
  • Identify the functionality that requires additional privileges, such as access to privileged operating system resources. Wrap and centralize this functionality if possible, and isolate the privileged code as much as possible from other code. Raise privileges as late as possible, and drop them as soon as possible to avoid CWE-271. Avoid weaknesses such as CWE-288 and CWE-420 by protecting all possible communication channels that could interact with the privileged code, such as a secondary socket that is only intended to be accessed by administrators.

More Execution with Unnecessary Privileges vulnerabilities (CWE-250)

Timeline

  1. CVE record published.
  2. CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: total).
  3. Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).

References

Other vulnerabilities in Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.11

All Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.11 vulnerabilities

Recent Execution with Unnecessary Privileges vulnerabilities

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