CVE-2025-47284: Gardener allows metadata injection for a project secret which can lead to privilege escalation

Should you act?

Critical, preconditions apply

Severe if exploited, but exploitation needs conditions that may not apply to you. This signal is computed from CISA KEV, EPSS and CVSS data; it is not an editorial verdict.

• No confirmed exploitation. It is not in CISA’s KEV catalog and CISA’s SSVC assessment records no known exploitation. That can change quickly after a public write-up; re-check if you are affected.
• EPSS 0.5%, percentile 40: FIRST’s model estimates a 0.5% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 40% of all scored CVEs (low). EPSS is a probability, not a verdict.
• Needs an account (low (any account)). Exposure depends on who can log in.
• Only applies if your dependency tree includes github.com/gardener/gardener (Go) < 1.116.4, fixed in 1.116.4; github.com/gardener/gardener (Go) >= 1.117.0, < 1.117.5, fixed in 1.117.5; github.com/gardener/gardener (Go) >= 1.118.0, < 1.118.2, fixed in 1.118.2. Check your lockfile, including transitive dependencies.

What it is

Gardener implements the automated management and operation of Kubernetes clusters as a service. A security vulnerability was discovered in the gardenlet component of Gardener prior to versions 1.116.4, 1.117.5, 1.118.2, and 1.119.0. It could allow a user with administrative privileges for a Gardener project to obtain control over the seed cluster(s) where their shoot clusters are managed. This CVE affects all Gardener installations where gardener/gardener-extension-provider-gcp is in use. Versions 1.116.4, 1.117.5, 1.118.2, and 1.119.0 fix the issue.

From the GitHub advisory

A security vulnerability was discovered in the gardenlet component of Gardener. It could allow a user with administrative privileges for a Gardener project to obtain control over the seed cluster(s) where their shoot clusters are managed.

Am I Vulnerable?

This CVE affects all Gardener installations where https://github.com/gardener/gardener-extension-provider-gcp is in use.

Affected Components

- gardener/gardener (gardenlet)

Weakness type: CWE-150.

Product: github.com/gardener/gardener (Go) · Assigned by: GitHub_M · Published: 2025-05-19

Affected and fixed versions

Severity scores

• Attack vector: network (remotely reachable)
• Attack complexity: low
• Privileges required: low (any account)
• User interaction: none
• Scope: changed (can affect other components)

CVSS measures how bad a flaw is if exploited, not how likely exploitation is. Read it next to the exploitation data below.

Exploitation and urgency

• CISA KEV: not listed (no confirmed in-the-wild exploitation known to CISA).
• CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation none, automatable no, technical impact total.
• FIRST EPSS (model of 2026-10-21): 0.47% probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 40.

Timeline

• 2025-05-19 — CVE record published by GitHub_M
• 2025-05-19 — GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-9x73-87fh-54w9 published (critical)
• 2025-05-20 — CVE record last updated

Sources and references

Original sources first. Version and fix details should always be confirmed against the vendor or project advisory.

Vulnerability records

1. GitHub Advisory GHSA-9x73-87fh-54w9 github.com
2. CVE.org record CVE-2025-47284 cve.org
3. NVD entry CVE-2025-47284 nvd.nist.gov

Other references from the CVE record and advisory

1. github.com github.com

Critical Go advisories · Today’s Security Digest