CVE-2026-9165: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption in Red Hat Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security 4.9
A flaw was found in Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security for Kubernetes (RHACS). Central does not limit the depth of GraphQL queries served on the authenticated GraphQL API. An authenticated user with a valid API token can send deeply nested queries that cause excessive resource consumption in Central, resulting in a denial of service for the management plane.
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
The vulnerability in Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security for Kubernetes (RHACS) Central component arises from the lack of limits on the depth of GraphQL queries served by the authenticated GraphQL API. An authenticated user with a valid API token can exploit this by sending deeply nested queries that consume excessive system resources, leading to denial of service conditions affecting the management plane. The issue is tracked as CVE-2026-9165 with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.7 (high severity), reflecting network attack vector, low attack complexity, required privileges, no user interaction, scope change, no confidentiality or integrity impact, but high availability impact. Red Hat has issued security advisories RHSA-2026:36207 and RHSA-2026:36319, providing updated RHACS versions 4.9.9 and 4.11.1 that include fixes for this and other issues. Users are advised to upgrade to these fixed versions to mitigate the vulnerability.
Potential Impact
An authenticated user with valid API credentials can cause a denial of service by sending deeply nested GraphQL queries that exhaust resources in the RHACS Central management plane. This impacts availability but does not affect confidentiality or integrity of data. The vulnerability could disrupt management operations of Kubernetes clusters secured by RHACS.
Mitigation Recommendations
Red Hat has released fixed versions 4.9.9 and 4.11.1 of Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security for Kubernetes that address this vulnerability. Users should upgrade to at least version 4.9.9 or 4.11.1 as appropriate to apply the official security patches. No additional mitigation steps are indicated in the vendor advisory.
CVE-2026-9165: Uncontrolled Resource Consumption in Red Hat Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security 4.9
Description
A flaw was found in Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security for Kubernetes (RHACS). Central does not limit the depth of GraphQL queries served on the authenticated GraphQL API. An authenticated user with a valid API token can send deeply nested queries that cause excessive resource consumption in Central, resulting in a denial of service for the management plane.
CVSS v3.1
Score 7.7high
Affected software
AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
The vulnerability in Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security for Kubernetes (RHACS) Central component arises from the lack of limits on the depth of GraphQL queries served by the authenticated GraphQL API. An authenticated user with a valid API token can exploit this by sending deeply nested queries that consume excessive system resources, leading to denial of service conditions affecting the management plane. The issue is tracked as CVE-2026-9165 with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.7 (high severity), reflecting network attack vector, low attack complexity, required privileges, no user interaction, scope change, no confidentiality or integrity impact, but high availability impact. Red Hat has issued security advisories RHSA-2026:36207 and RHSA-2026:36319, providing updated RHACS versions 4.9.9 and 4.11.1 that include fixes for this and other issues. Users are advised to upgrade to these fixed versions to mitigate the vulnerability.
Potential Impact
An authenticated user with valid API credentials can cause a denial of service by sending deeply nested GraphQL queries that exhaust resources in the RHACS Central management plane. This impacts availability but does not affect confidentiality or integrity of data. The vulnerability could disrupt management operations of Kubernetes clusters secured by RHACS.
Mitigation Recommendations
Red Hat has released fixed versions 4.9.9 and 4.11.1 of Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security for Kubernetes that address this vulnerability. Users should upgrade to at least version 4.9.9 or 4.11.1 as appropriate to apply the official security patches. No additional mitigation steps are indicated in the vendor advisory.
Technical Details
- Data Version
- 5.2
- Assigner Short Name
- redhat
- Date Reserved
- 2026-05-21T12:54:16.202Z
- Cvss Version
- 3.1
- State
- PUBLISHED
- Remediation Level
- null
- Vendor Advisory Urls
- [{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-9165","vendor":"Red Hat"}]
Threat ID: 6a4b6cb027e9c797192526af
Added to database: 07/06/2026, 08:52:00 UTC
Last enriched: 08/14/2026, 13:16:26 UTC
Last updated: 08/20/2026, 14:07:47 UTC
Views: 166
Community Reviews
0 reviewsCrowdsource mitigation strategies, share intel context, and vote on the most helpful responses. Sign in to add your voice and help keep defenders ahead.
Want to contribute mitigation steps or threat intel context? Sign in or create an account to join the community discussion.
Actions
Updates to AI analysis require Pro Console access. Upgrade inside Console → Billing.
Need more coverage?
Upgrade to Pro Console for AI refresh and higher limits.
For incident response and remediation, OffSeq services can help resolve threats faster.
Latest Threats
Check if your credentials are on the dark web
Instant breach scanning across billions of leaked records. Free tier available.