dbcve.org
Improper Access ControlWeakness · CWE-284

CVE-2025-62159

HIGH · 8.7 CVSS v4.0 Published 2025-10-10
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
96/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
External Secrets Operator reads information from a third-party service and automatically injects the values as Kubernetes Secrets. A vulnerability was discovered in the BeyondTrust provider implementation for External Secrets Operator versions 0.10.1 through 0.19.2. The provider previously retrieved Kubernetes secrets directly, without validating the namespace context or the type of secret store. This allowed unauthorized cross-namespace secret access, violating security boundaries and potentially exposing sensitive credentials. In version 0.20.0, the provider code was updated to use the `resolvers.SecretKeyRef` utility, which enforces namespace validation and only allows cross-namespace access for `ClusterSecretStore` types. This ensures secrets are only retrieved from the correct namespace, mitigating the risk of unauthorized access. All users should upgrade to the latest version containing this fix. As a workaround, use a policy engine such as Kyverno or OPA to prevent using BeyondTrust provider and/or validate the `(Cluster)SecretStore` and ensure the namespace may only be set when using a `ClusterSecretStore`.

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 · high confidence

The BeyondTrust provider in External Secrets Operator versions 0.10.1 through 0.19.2 retrieves Kubernetes secrets without validating namespace context or verifying the secret store type. This allows unauthorized cross-namespace secret access, enabling attackers to read secrets from namespaces they should not have access to, violating Kubernetes security boundaries.

MitigationUpgrade External Secrets Operator to version 0.20.0 or later, which implements namespace validation via the resolvers.SecretKeyRef utility that restricts cross-namespace access to ClusterSecretStore types only. Alternatively, deploy Kyverno or OPA policies to block the BeyondTrust provider until upgrade is possible.

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
None
Authentication
X
User interaction
None
Scope
X

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

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. Check External Secrets Operator version
    Run 'kubectl get deployment -n external-secrets-operator -o jsonpath="{.items[*].spec.template.spec.containers[0].image}"' or check via Helm: 'helm list -n external-secrets-operator' and then 'helm get values <release> -n external-secrets-operator'
    Affected if The installed version falls within 0.10.1 to 0.19.2 (inclusive)
  2. Identify BeyondTrust provider usage
    Run 'kubectl get secretstores.cluster.external-secrets.io -A' and 'kubectl get externalsecrets.external-secrets.io -A' to find SecretStore and ExternalSecret resources; examine their spec.provider.beyondtrust configuration
    Affected if Any SecretStore or ClusterSecretStore resource references the BeyondTrust provider in its spec
  3. Verify ClusterSecretStore with BeyondTrust
    Check any ClusterSecretStore resources with 'kubectl get clustersecretstore -o yaml' and look for spec.provider.beyondtrust; ClusterSecretStore with BeyondTrust can access secrets across all namespaces when this vulnerability exists
    Affected if A ClusterSecretStore resource uses the BeyondTrust provider, allowing cross-namespace access due to missing validation
  4. Check namespace-scoped SecretStore usage
    Examine namespace-bound SecretStore resources: 'kubectl get secretstore -o yaml' and verify if any reference the BeyondTrust provider; note that namespace-scoped stores should be limited but the bug bypasses this protection
    Affected if A namespace-scoped SecretStore uses BeyondTrust provider (vulnerability allows unauthorized access regardless)
  5. Confirm Cross-namespace access exposure
    Review RBAC bindings: 'kubectl get rolebindings,clusterrolebindings -A -o wide' to identify principals that can use the BeyondTrust provider, then verify if ESO operator has permissions to read secrets from namespaces beyond what the principal should access
    Affected if The ESO operator service account can read secrets in namespaces where the requesting user or service account should not have access, violating Kubernetes security boundaries

A user is affected if they run External Secrets Operator version 0.10.1 through 0.19.2 with any BeyondTrust provider SecretStore or ClusterSecretStore configured, allowing unauthorized cross-namespace secret retrieval.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade External Secrets Operator to version 0.20.0 or later, which implements namespace validation via the resolvers.SecretKeyRef utility that restricts cross-namespace access to ClusterSecretStore types only. Alternatively, deploy Kyverno or OPA policies to block the BeyondTrust provider until upgrade is possible.

Recommended fix High confidence

External Secrets Operator >= 0.20.0

  1. 1. Identify your current External Secrets Operator deployment and verify it is within versions 0.10.1 through 0.19.2
  2. 2. Review the External Secrets Operator v0.20.0 release notes for any changes to the BeyondTrust provider or other breaking changes
  3. 3. Backup your current External Secrets Operator configurations, including any BeyondTrust SecretStore or ClusterSecretStore resources
  4. 4. Upgrade External Secrets Operator to version 0.20.0 or later using your deployment method (Helm, manifests, operator-sdk, etc.)
  5. 5. Verify the BeyondTrust provider now correctly enforces namespace validation by testing secret retrieval
  6. 6. Confirm that ClusterSecretStore resources can access cross-namespace secrets while namespaced SecretStore resources are restricted to their own namespace
Caveat Review v0.20.0 release notes for any unrelated changes; the description does not indicate breaking changes specific to this fix

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,570
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,512.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-62159 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2025-62159 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data