Vulnerability in External-Secrets

CVE-2025-55196

External Secrets Operator is a Kubernetes operator that integrates external secret management systems. From version 0.15.0 to before 0.19.2, a vulnerability was discovered where the List() calls for Kubernetes Secret and SecretStore resources performed by the PushSecret controller did not apply a namespace selector. This flaw allowed an attacker to use label selectors to list and read secrets/secret-stores across the cluster, bypassing intended namespace restrictions. An attacker with the ability to create or update PushSecret resources and control SecretStore configurations could exploit this vulnerability to exfiltrate sensitive data from arbitrary namespaces. This could lead to full disclosure of Kubernetes secrets, including credentials, tokens, and other sensitive information stored in the cluster. This vulnerability has been patched in version 0.19.2. A workaround for this issue includes auditing and restricting RBAC permissions so that only trusted service accounts can create or update PushSecret and SecretStore resources.

Published · last modified .

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.004 (26.8th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 27th percentile — 26.8% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2025-55196: held from 0.003 to 0.004.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.003 · newest: 0.004 · change: +0.000

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

References