GHSA-22XC-XG2R-9J7V
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-07-16 19:32 – Updated: 2026-07-16 19:32Impact
When Envoy Gateway runs in GatewayNamespaceMode (provider.kubernetes.deploy.type=GatewayNamespace), the xDS gRPC server is configured with a StreamInterceptor for JWT authentication but no UnaryInterceptor. The go-control-plane xDS server exposes both streaming and unary (Fetch) RPC methods for all registered discovery services. Since there is no unary interceptor, these Fetch endpoints are completely unauthenticated.
Additionally, the JWT authentication interceptor in GatewayNamespaceMode only validates tokens when the received gRPC message is of type discoveryv3.DeltaDiscoveryRequest . If the message is a discoveryv3.DiscoveryRequest — used by the State-of-the-World (SotW) xDS protocol — the type assertion fails, the validation block is skipped entirely, and RecvMsg returns nil (success) without any authentication.
Any pod in the cluster that can reach the xDS server (port 18000) can use the SotW protocol to bypass JWT authentication and access:
- TLS private keys via StreamSecrets (SDS)
- All xDS resources via StreamAggregatedResources (ADS)
- Backend endpoints via StreamClusters / StreamEndpoints (CDS/EDS)
- Routing rules via StreamRoutes / StreamListeners (RDS/LDS)
Credits
Envoy Gateway thanks @dashingDragon and @Donjon-Cerberus for reporting this issue.
{
"affected": [
{
"package": {
"ecosystem": "Go",
"name": "github.com/envoyproxy/gateway"
},
"ranges": [
{
"events": [
{
"introduced": "1.8.0-rc.0"
},
{
"fixed": "1.8.1"
}
],
"type": "ECOSYSTEM"
}
]
},
{
"package": {
"ecosystem": "Go",
"name": "github.com/envoyproxy/gateway"
},
"ranges": [
{
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "1.7.4"
}
],
"type": "ECOSYSTEM"
}
]
}
],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2026-53714"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-306"
],
"github_reviewed": true,
"github_reviewed_at": "2026-07-16T19:32:23Z",
"nvd_published_at": null,
"severity": "HIGH"
},
"details": "### Impact\nWhen Envoy Gateway runs in GatewayNamespaceMode (`provider.kubernetes.deploy.type=GatewayNamespace`), the xDS gRPC server is configured with a `StreamInterceptor` for JWT authentication but no UnaryInterceptor. The go-control-plane xDS server exposes both streaming and unary (Fetch) RPC methods for all registered discovery services. Since there is no unary interceptor, these Fetch endpoints are completely unauthenticated. \n\nAdditionally, the JWT authentication interceptor in GatewayNamespaceMode only validates tokens when the received gRPC message is of type `discoveryv3.DeltaDiscoveryRequest` . If the message is a `discoveryv3.DiscoveryRequest` \u2014 used by the State-of-the-World (SotW) xDS protocol \u2014 the type assertion fails, the validation block is skipped entirely, and RecvMsg returns nil (success) without any authentication.\n\nAny pod in the cluster that can reach the xDS server (port 18000) can use the SotW protocol to bypass JWT authentication and access:\n\n* TLS private keys via StreamSecrets (SDS)\n* All xDS resources via StreamAggregatedResources (ADS)\n* Backend endpoints via StreamClusters / StreamEndpoints (CDS/EDS)\n* Routing rules via StreamRoutes / StreamListeners (RDS/LDS)\n\n### Credits\n\nEnvoy Gateway thanks @dashingDragon and @Donjon-Cerberus for reporting this issue.",
"id": "GHSA-22xc-xg2r-9j7v",
"modified": "2026-07-16T19:32:23Z",
"published": "2026-07-16T19:32:23Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/envoyproxy/gateway/security/advisories/GHSA-22xc-xg2r-9j7v"
},
{
"type": "PACKAGE",
"url": "https://github.com/envoyproxy/gateway"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
}
],
"summary": "Envoy Gateway: xDS Control Plane Information Disclosure when operating in GatewayNamespaceMode "
}
Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date | Other |
|---|
Nomenclature
- Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
- Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
- Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
- Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
- Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.