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Strimzi allows unrestricted access to all Secrets in the same Kubernetes namespace from Kafka Connect and MirrorMaker 2 operands

High severity GitHub Reviewed Published Dec 5, 2025 in strimzi/strimzi-kafka-operator • Updated Dec 5, 2025

Package

maven io.strimzi:strimzi (Maven)

Affected versions

>= 0.47.0, < 0.49.1

Patched versions

0.49.1

Description

Impact

In some situations, Strimzi creates an incorrect Kubernetes Role which grants the Apache Kafka Connect and Apache Kafka MirrorMaker 2 operands the GET access to all Kubernetes Secrets that exist in the given Kubernetes namespace. The exact scenario when this happens is when:

  • Apache Kafka Connect is deployed without at least one of the following options configured:
    • TLS encryption with configured trusted certificates (no .spec.tls.trustedCertificates section in the KafkaConnect CR)
    • mTLS authentication (no type: tls in .spec.authentication section of the KafkaConnect CR)
    • TLS encryption with configured trusted certificates for type: oauth authentication (no .spec.authentication.tlsTrustedCertificates section in the KafkaConnect CR)
  • Apache Kafka MirrorMaker2 is deployed without at least one of the following options configured for the target cluster:
    • TLS encryption with configured trusted certificates (no .spec.target.tls.trustedCertificates section in the KafkaConnect CR)
    • mTLS authentication (no type: tls in .spec.target.authentication section of the KafkaConnect CR)
    • TLS encryption with configured trusted certificates for type: oauth authentication (no .spec.target.authentication.tlsTrustedCertificates section in the KafkaConnect CR)
    • TLS encryption with configured trusted certificates (no .spec.clusters[].tls.trustedCertificates section in the KafkaConnect CR for the target cluster)
    • mTLS authentication (no type: tls in .spec.clusters[].authentication section of the KafkaConnect CR for the target cluster)
    • TLS encryption with configured trusted certificates for type: oauth authentication (no .spec.clusters[].authentication.tlsTrustedCertificates section in the KafkaConnect CR for the target cluster)

When the operands configured as described above are deployed with Strimzi >= 0.47.0 and <= 0.49.0, any code running within their Pods and using their Service Account for authentication will be able to GET any Kubernetes Secret from the same namespace. This can be done by executing 3rd party tools from the Pods. Or directly from the Kafka Connect code, for example, using configuration providers or HTTP connectors. The Pods are allowed to only GET the Secrets. They are not allowed to list, watch, modify, or delete the Secrets.

Patches

The issue is fixed in Strimzi 0.49.1.

Workarounds

There is no workaround for this issue when using the affected operands with the affected configurations.

References

@scholzj scholzj published to strimzi/strimzi-kafka-operator Dec 5, 2025
Published by the National Vulnerability Database Dec 5, 2025
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database Dec 5, 2025
Reviewed Dec 5, 2025
Last updated Dec 5, 2025

Severity

High

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Adjacent
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N

EPSS score

Weaknesses

Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor

The product exposes sensitive information to an actor that is not explicitly authorized to have access to that information. Learn more on MITRE.

Incorrect Authorization

The product performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action, but it does not correctly perform the check. This allows attackers to bypass intended access restrictions. Learn more on MITRE.

CVE ID

CVE-2025-66623

GHSA ID

GHSA-xrhh-hx36-485q

Source code

Credits

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