CVE-2026-73843: OpenChoreo: Unauthenticated access to data-plane operations via OpenChoreo cluster-gateway management APIs

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 41: FIRST’s model estimates a 0.5% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 41% of all scored CVEs (low). EPSS is a probability, not a verdict.
• Only applies if your dependency tree includes github.com/openchoreo/openchoreo (Go) < 1.0.2, fixed in 1.0.2; github.com/openchoreo/openchoreo (Go) >= 1.1.0, < 1.1.2, fixed in 1.1.2. Check your lockfile, including transitive dependencies.

What it is

OpenChoreo is a complete, open-source developer platform for Kubernetes. Prior to 1.0.2 and 1.1.2, internal/cluster-gateway/server.go served caller-facing management APIs on the externally reachable agent listener without authentication, allowing network-reachable attackers to invoke /api/proxy/ and /api/exec/ operations, proxy the data-plane Kubernetes API, and execute commands in workload pods in multi-cluster deployments. This issue is fixed in versions 1.0.2 and 1.1.2.

From the GitHub advisory

Summary The OpenChoreo control-plane cluster-gateway served its caller-facing management APIs on the same network listener that accepts data-plane agent connections. In the multi-cluster topology that listener is published outside the cluster, and the management APIs did not authenticate the calling client. A party able to reach the listener could therefore invoke privileged data-plane operations without authenticating and without passing through the OpenChoreo API server's authorization.

Impact An attacker who can reach the externally published cluster-gateway endpoint can perform data-plane operations normally restricted to the OpenChoreo API server and gated by its authorization — including proxying the data plane's Kubernetes API and executing commands inside workload pods. This can result in full compromise of workloads on the affected data plane (disclosure, tampering, and denial of service).

The exposure applies to the multi-cluster / remote data-plane topology, where the cluster-gateway is published outside the cluster so remote data-plane agents can connect. That same externally reachable listener also served the caller-facing management APIs, which did not authenticate the caller. Deployments that do not publish the cluster-gateway outside the cluster are not affected.

Patches Fixed in 1.0.2, 1.1.2, and 1.2.0. The fix moves the caller-facing management APIs onto a separate internal listener that is not published outside the cluster, leaving only the agent-connection endpoint on the externally reachable listener. Upgrading is non-disruptive — no data-plane agent or configuration changes are required beyond the standard chart upgrade. Upgrade path: 1.1.x → 1.1.2, 1.0.x and earlier → 1.0.2, 1.2 line → 1.2.0.

Workarounds If you cannot upgrade immediately: - If you do run remote data planes, restrict reachability of the external gateway endpoint to known data-plane source addresses only (firewall / gateway-level allowlisting).

Weakness type: CWE-306, CWE-668, CWE-862.

Product: github.com/openchoreo/openchoreo (Go) · Assigned by: GitHub_M · Published: 2026-08-13

Affected and fixed versions

Severity scores

• Attack vector: adjacent network only
• Attack complexity: low
• Privileges required: none (no login)
• 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): 0.48% probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 41.

Timeline

• 2026-08-13 — CVE record published by GitHub_M
• 2026-08-14 — CVE record last updated
• 2026-09-02 — GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-qh9r-j7rp-4x2m published (critical)

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-qh9r-j7rp-4x2m github.com
2. CVE.org record CVE-2026-73843 cve.org
3. NVD entry CVE-2026-73843 nvd.nist.gov

Other references from the CVE record and advisory

1. github.com github.com
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3. github.com github.com
4. github.com github.com
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6. github.com github.com
7. github.com github.com
8. github.com github.com

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