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Improper Input ValidationWeakness · CWE-20

CVE-2025-15566

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-02-06
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
A security issue was discovered in ingress-nginx where the `nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/auth-proxy-set-headers` Ingress annotation can be used to inject configuration into nginx. This can lead to arbitrary code execution in the context of the ingress-nginx controller, and disclosure of Secrets accessible to the controller. (Note that in the default installation, the controller can access all Secrets cluster-wide.)

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

The ingress-nginx controller's `nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/auth-proxy-set-headers` annotation allows injection of configuration into nginx, enabling arbitrary code execution in the controller's context and disclosure of cluster-wide secrets (which the controller has access to by default).

MitigationRestrict the ingress-nginx controller's RBAC permissions to limit secret access cluster-wide, audit and remediate any Ingress resources using this annotation with untrusted values, and consider upgrading to a patched version when available.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify ingress-nginx controller is deployed
    Run 'kubectl get pods -n ingress-nginx' or check for ingress-nginx pods in any namespace where it's installed
    Affected if ingress-nginx controller pods are running in the cluster
  2. Check ingress-nginx version
    Run 'kubectl get deployment -n ingress-nginx ingress-nginx-controller -o jsonpath="{.spec.template.spec.containers[0].image}"' or check the image tag of the controller pod
    Affected if the controller version is unpatched (no specific version range provided, compare to any available patched version)
  3. Identify Ingress resources using the vulnerable annotation
    Run 'kubectl get ingress --all-namespaces -o jsonpath="{range .items[?(@.metadata.annotations.\"nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/auth-proxy-set-headers\")]}{.metadata.namespace}/{.metadata.name}{"\n"}{end}"' to find Ingress resources with the auth-proxy-set-headers annotation
    Affected if any Ingress resource uses the 'nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/auth-proxy-set-headers' annotation with untrusted values
  4. Confirm the annotation contains untrusted or external values
    Run 'kubectl get ingress --all-namespaces -o json' and inspect the value of the 'nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/auth-proxy-set-headers' annotation in each Ingress found
    Affected if the annotation value references headers or configurations not controlled by the cluster administrator
  5. Verify controller has access to cluster secrets
    Check the service account used by the ingress-nginx controller (kubectl get deployment -n ingress-nginx ingress-nginx-controller -o jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.serviceAccount}') and review its RBAC bindings (kubectl get clusterrolebinding -o jsonpath='{range .items[?(@.subjects[?(@.kind=="ServiceAccount")])}{.metadata.name}{" "}{end}')
    Affected if the controller's service account has cluster-wide secret access (default behavior grants broad permissions)

You are affected if ingress-nginx controller is deployed, any Ingress resource uses the 'nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/auth-proxy-set-headers' annotation, and the controller has access to secrets (which is the default).

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Restrict the ingress-nginx controller's RBAC permissions to limit secret access cluster-wide, audit and remediate any Ingress resources using this annotation with untrusted values, and consider upgrading to a patched version when available.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
30.0 hours of engineering $5,280
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $8,448.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-15566 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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