CVE-2026-18673 PUBLISHED

Kong Mesh: the kuma-dp readiness service exposes the Envoy admin API without authentication

Assigner: Kong
Reserved: 03.08.2026 Published: 12.08.2026 Updated: 13.08.2026

When kuma-dp is configured with the Envoy admin API on a Unix domain socket, which is the default, its readiness service on TCP port 9902 - bound to all interfaces - forwards almost the entire Envoy admin API to any caller that can reach the port, with no authentication.

An attacker with network access to a data plane's port 9902, for example another pod on the cluster network, can read Envoy and data plane configuration without credentials: config dumps, cluster and listener lists, stats, and the mesh trust bundle. Exposure is read-only - destructive Envoy admin actions are blocked and private keys are not exposed.

Metrics

CVSS Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:A/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
CVSS Score: 5.3

Product Status

Vendor Kong Inc.
Product Kong Mesh
Versions Default: unaffected
  • affected from 2.14.0 to 2.14.2 (excl.)

Affected Configurations

You are affected if you run kuma-dp on the 2.14 line with the Envoy admin API on a Unix domain socket (the default) and TCP port 9902 is reachable from the pod or cluster network.

You are not affected if:

  • You run a release line before 2.14. There the readiness service exposes only /ready.
  • Port 9902 is not reachable by untrusted workloads.

Workarounds

Restrict network access to port 9902 to trusted monitoring only, for example with a Kubernetes NetworkPolicy.

Solutions

Upgrade to Kong Mesh 2.14.2. In patched versions the readiness reporter serves only /ready; the Envoy admin API stays on the Unix domain socket, which is not reachable over the pod network.

Credits

  • https://hackerone.com/zoom9797 finder

References

Problem Types

  • CWE-200 Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor CWE
  • CWE-306 Missing Authentication for Critical Function CWE

Impacts

  • Information Disclosure