CVE-2026-23881
Kyverno Denial of Service via Context Variable Amplification in Policy Engine
Description
Kyverno is a policy engine designed for cloud native platform engineering teams. Versions prior to 1.16.3 and 1.15.3 have unbounded memory consumption in Kyverno's policy engine that allows users with policy creation privileges to cause denial of service by crafting policies that exponentially amplify string data through context variables. Versions 1.16.3 and 1.15.3 contain a patch for the vulnerability.
INFO
Published Date :
Jan. 27, 2026, 5:16 p.m.
Last Modified :
Jan. 27, 2026, 5:16 p.m.
Remotely Exploit :
Yes !
Source :
[email protected]
Affected Products
The following products are affected by CVE-2026-23881
vulnerability.
Even if cvefeed.io is aware of the exact versions of the
products
that
are
affected, the information is not represented in the table below.
No affected product recoded yet
CVSS Scores
| Score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability Score | Impact Score | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 3.1 | HIGH | [email protected] |
Solution
- Update Kyverno to version 1.16.3 or later.
- Update Kyverno to version 1.15.3 or later.
- Restrict policy creation privileges.
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools
Here, you will find a curated list of external links that provide in-depth
information, practical solutions, and valuable tools related to
CVE-2026-23881.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
While CVE identifies
specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or
weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-23881 is
associated with the following CWEs:
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)
Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification
(CAPEC)
stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and
approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2026-23881
weaknesses.
We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).
Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.
The following list is the news that have been mention
CVE-2026-23881 vulnerability anywhere in the article.
The following table lists the changes that have been made to the
CVE-2026-23881 vulnerability over time.
Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.
-
New CVE Received by [email protected]
Jan. 27, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Description Kyverno is a policy engine designed for cloud native platform engineering teams. Versions prior to 1.16.3 and 1.15.3 have unbounded memory consumption in Kyverno's policy engine that allows users with policy creation privileges to cause denial of service by crafting policies that exponentially amplify string data through context variables. Versions 1.16.3 and 1.15.3 contain a patch for the vulnerability. Added CVSS V3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H Added CWE CWE-770 Added Reference https://github.com/kyverno/kyverno/commit/7a651be3a8c78dcabfbf4178b8d89026bf3b850f Added Reference https://github.com/kyverno/kyverno/commit/f5617f60920568a301740485472bf704892175b7 Added Reference https://github.com/kyverno/kyverno/security/advisories/GHSA-r2rj-wwm5-x6mq