CVE-2026-9165
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 · uneditedA 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.
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 confidenceRHACS Central's GraphQL API lacks depth limiting on queries, allowing authenticated users with valid API tokens to send deeply nested queries that consume excessive server resources and cause denial of service.
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
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm RHACS Central deploymentIdentify if Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security Central component is running in your environment. Use commands like 'kubectl get pods -n stackrox' or 'kubectl get pods -n rhacs' to list Central pods, or check your Kubernetes deployment manifests and Helm releases.Affected if RHACS Central is not deployed in your environment (not affected)
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Check Central versionRetrieve the installed Central version using 'roxctl central version', checking the Central pod image tag, or querying the /api/v1/容/APIabout endpoint if available. Compare against the affected version range provided by Red Hat security advisories.Affected if The installed version matches the vulnerable version range and no patch has been applied
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Verify GraphQL API accessibilityConfirm the Central GraphQL endpoint is exposed and accessible. The endpoint is typically at /graphql/ or /api/graphql on the Central service. Verify it accepts authenticated requests with valid API tokens.Affected if The GraphQL API is exposed and accessible to authenticated users with valid API tokens
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Inspect query depth limiting configurationCheck Central configuration for GraphQL query depth limit settings. Examine environment variables, ConfigMaps, Helm values, or Central startup flags for any depth limit enforcement (e.g., --graphql-max-depth, GRAPHQL_MAX_DEPTH, or similar). Review any custom middleware or policy configurations.Affected if No GraphQL query depth limit is configured, enabled, or enforced in the Central deployment
You are affected if RHACS Central is running an unpatched version with the GraphQL API accessible to authenticated users and without query depth limiting configured or enforced.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataImplement GraphQL query depth limits and complexity analysis to restrict nested query depth, combined with rate limiting on the authenticated GraphQL endpoint.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-9165 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-9165 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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