CVE-2025-11393 is a vulnerability identified in the runtimes-inventory-rhel8-operator component of Red Hat Lightspeed (formerly Insights) for Runtimes 1.0. The root cause is an internal proxy misconfiguration that causes it to indiscriminately attach the cluster's main administrative credentials to any command it processes, rather than restricting this to specific, authorized reports. This misconfiguration effectively creates a 'confused deputy' scenario, where the proxy acts on behalf of the cluster administrator without proper authorization checks. Consequently, any standard user within the Kubernetes cluster can leverage this proxy to send arbitrary commands to the management platform with elevated privileges. This can lead to unauthorized modifications of cluster configurations, status changes, or other administrative actions that compromise the cluster's integrity and confidentiality. The vulnerability has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.7, reflecting high confidentiality and integrity impacts, low attack complexity, and the need for only low privileges without user interaction. Although no exploits have been reported in the wild, the flaw presents a significant risk due to the potential for privilege escalation within critical cloud-native infrastructure management tools. The vulnerability was publicly disclosed on December 15, 2025, and affects Red Hat Lightspeed for Runtimes 1.0, a product used for runtime insights and management in Kubernetes environments.

For European organizations relying on Red Hat Lightspeed for Runtimes, this vulnerability poses a significant risk of unauthorized privilege escalation within Kubernetes clusters. Attackers with standard user access can gain cluster administrator privileges, enabling them to alter cluster configurations, disrupt services, or exfiltrate sensitive data. This undermines the confidentiality and integrity of critical cloud-native infrastructure, potentially leading to operational downtime or compliance violations under regulations such as GDPR. The ability to perform these actions without user interaction and with low attack complexity increases the likelihood of exploitation in multi-tenant or shared environments common in European enterprises. The impact extends to any organization using Red Hat's runtime management tools, especially those with complex Kubernetes deployments in sectors like finance, healthcare, and critical infrastructure, where cluster integrity is paramount.

Organizations should immediately audit their use of Red Hat Lightspeed for Runtimes 1.0 and identify affected clusters. Applying vendor patches or updates as soon as they become available is critical. In the absence of patches, restrict access to the runtimes-inventory-rhel8-operator component by enforcing strict role-based access controls (RBAC) to limit standard user permissions within the cluster. Network segmentation should be employed to isolate management components from general user workloads. Monitoring and logging of commands sent through the proxy should be enhanced to detect anomalous or unauthorized activity. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing runtime security tools that can detect privilege escalation attempts and enforce least privilege principles rigorously. Regular security assessments and penetration testing focused on Kubernetes cluster management components are recommended to identify similar misconfigurations.