Red Hat Security Advisory: Assisted Installer RHEL 9 components for Multicluster Engine for Kubernetes 2.10.2
Assisted Installer RHEL 9 integrates components for the general multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.10.2 release that simplify the process of deploying OpenShift Container Platform clusters. The multicluster engine for Kubernetes provides the foundational components that are necessary for the centralized management of multiple Kubernetes-based clusters across data centers, public clouds, and private clouds. You can use the engine to create new Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform clusters, or to import existing Kubernetes-based clusters for management. After the clusters are managed, you can use the APIs that are provided by the engine to distribute configuration based on placement policy.
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
CVE-2026-7163 is a security vulnerability in the assisted-service REST API of the Multicluster Engine (MCE) for Kubernetes, specifically impacting on-premises deployments using the local authentication mode (AUTH_TYPE=local). An authenticated user with minimal namespace-scoped privileges can retrieve the kubeadmin password and kubeconfig for any OpenShift cluster provisioned through the hub by exploiting the credential download endpoints. The local authenticator grants full administrative access to any request bearing a valid JWT, which is exposed in plaintext as a query parameter accessible to users with get rights on InfraEnv objects in their namespace. This flaw allows unauthorized privilege escalation to full administrative control over managed clusters. The hosted SaaS offering is not affected as it uses a different authentication mode. The vulnerability is rated as important and high severity by Red Hat. No fix has been released yet according to the vendor advisory.
Potential Impact
Successful exploitation allows an authenticated user with minimal privileges to gain unrestricted root-level administrative access to any OpenShift cluster provisioned through the affected Multicluster Engine hub. This includes obtaining the kubeadmin password and kubeconfig files, enabling full control over cluster resources and configurations. The vulnerability affects on-premises deployments using local authentication mode and does not impact the hosted SaaS service. There are no known exploits in the wild at this time.
Mitigation Recommendations
Patch status is not yet confirmed — check the vendor advisory for current remediation guidance. The vendor advisory does not list any fixes currently available. Users should monitor Red Hat's official advisories for updates and consider restricting access to InfraEnv objects and namespace-scoped privileges to trusted users only. Since the vulnerability arises from the local authentication mode, consider alternative authentication configurations if feasible. No vendor-provided mitigations or workarounds are explicitly stated in the advisory at this time.
Red Hat Security Advisory: Assisted Installer RHEL 9 components for Multicluster Engine for Kubernetes 2.10.2
Description
Assisted Installer RHEL 9 integrates components for the general multicluster engine for Kubernetes 2.10.2 release that simplify the process of deploying OpenShift Container Platform clusters. The multicluster engine for Kubernetes provides the foundational components that are necessary for the centralized management of multiple Kubernetes-based clusters across data centers, public clouds, and private clouds. You can use the engine to create new Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform clusters, or to import existing Kubernetes-based clusters for management. After the clusters are managed, you can use the APIs that are provided by the engine to distribute configuration based on placement policy.
Affected software
AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
CVE-2026-7163 is a security vulnerability in the assisted-service REST API of the Multicluster Engine (MCE) for Kubernetes, specifically impacting on-premises deployments using the local authentication mode (AUTH_TYPE=local). An authenticated user with minimal namespace-scoped privileges can retrieve the kubeadmin password and kubeconfig for any OpenShift cluster provisioned through the hub by exploiting the credential download endpoints. The local authenticator grants full administrative access to any request bearing a valid JWT, which is exposed in plaintext as a query parameter accessible to users with get rights on InfraEnv objects in their namespace. This flaw allows unauthorized privilege escalation to full administrative control over managed clusters. The hosted SaaS offering is not affected as it uses a different authentication mode. The vulnerability is rated as important and high severity by Red Hat. No fix has been released yet according to the vendor advisory.
Potential Impact
Successful exploitation allows an authenticated user with minimal privileges to gain unrestricted root-level administrative access to any OpenShift cluster provisioned through the affected Multicluster Engine hub. This includes obtaining the kubeadmin password and kubeconfig files, enabling full control over cluster resources and configurations. The vulnerability affects on-premises deployments using local authentication mode and does not impact the hosted SaaS service. There are no known exploits in the wild at this time.
Mitigation Recommendations
Patch status is not yet confirmed — check the vendor advisory for current remediation guidance. The vendor advisory does not list any fixes currently available. Users should monitor Red Hat's official advisories for updates and consider restricting access to InfraEnv objects and namespace-scoped privileges to trusted users only. Since the vulnerability arises from the local authentication mode, consider alternative authentication configurations if feasible. No vendor-provided mitigations or workarounds are explicitly stated in the advisory at this time.
Technical Details
- Gcve Source
- db.gcve.eu
- Csaf Category
- csaf_security_advisory
- Csaf Version
- 2.0
- Publisher
- Red Hat Product Security
- Advisory Id
- RHSA-2026:12116
- Cve Count
- 3
- Additional Cves
- ["CVE-2026-33186","CVE-2026-34986"]
- State
- PUBLISHED
Threat ID: 6a160955e29bf47b5061acad
Added to database: 05/26/2026, 20:57:57 UTC
Last enriched: 08/17/2026, 17:21:44 UTC
Last updated: 09/14/2026, 10:01:33 UTC
Views: 119
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