Privilege escalation in Red Hat Ai Inference Server
CVE-2026-18621
A flaw was found in Data Science Pipelines (DSP). An attacker with namespace editor privileges can bypass security hardening by submitting a malicious Argo Workflow through the V1 API path. This allows the API server to create pods with elevated privileges, acting as a 'confused deputy' on behalf of the attacker. Successful exploitation grants the attacker node-root access, enabling arbitrary code execution and full control over the underlying node.
Published · last modified .
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 7.6 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:L.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.005 (40.9th percentile), scored .
Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 41st percentile — 40.9% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.
EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.004 · newest: 0.005 · change: +0.002
Affected products
- Red Hat Ai Inference Server
- Red Hat Openshift Ai 2.25 — versions 1785189934
- Red Hat Openshift Ai 3.3 — versions 1785187920
- Red Hat Openshift Ai 3.4 — versions 1784924951
- Red Hat Openshift Ai (Rhoai)
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
- access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-18621 (vdb-entry)
- bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi (issue-tracking)
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:53263 (vendor-advisory)
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:53261 (vendor-advisory)
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:53262 (vendor-advisory)
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:60520 (vendor-advisory)
- access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:65126 (vendor-advisory)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2026-18621?
- CVE-2026-18621 is a high-severity vulnerability in Red Hat Ai Inference Server, classified under Incorrect Privilege Assignment. CVSS score: 7.6/10. Published 2026-08-10.
- How severe is CVE-2026-18621?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.6 out of 10.