---
title: "CVE-2026-77524: KEDA: Privilege escalation from namespace admin to cluster admin via KEDA TriggerAuthentication"
url: https://erroneo.us/security/cve/CVE-2026-77524/
description: "CVE-2026-77524 (github.com/kedacore/keda (Go)): KEDA is a Kubernetes-based Event Driven Autoscaling component. In version 2.20.2 and earlier, a namespace…"
type: vulnerability-record
section: "Security Digest"
date_published: 2026-10-14
date_modified: 2026-10-20
publisher: erroneo.us
author: erroneo.us Security Desk
cve: "CVE-2026-77524"
kev: false
cvss: 9.9
epss: 0.00635
license: All rights reserved. Quote with attribution and a link.
---

# CVE-2026-77524: KEDA: Privilege escalation from namespace admin to cluster admin via KEDA TriggerAuthentication

**Signal:** Critical, preconditions apply. Severe if exploited, but exploitation needs conditions that may not apply to you. (Computed from CISA KEV, EPSS and CVSS; not an editorial verdict.)

## Should you act?

- Not in CISA KEV , but CISA’s SSVC assessment records a public proof-of-concept, so attack code exists.
- EPSS 0.6% , percentile 50: FIRST’s model estimates a 0.6% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 50% 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/kedacore/keda (Go) <= 1.5.0, no fixed version listed ; github.com/kedacore/keda/v2 (Go) < 2.21.0, fixed in 2.21.0 . Check your lockfile, including transitive dependencies.

## What it is

KEDA is a Kubernetes-based Event Driven Autoscaling component. In version 2.20.2 and earlier, a namespace administrator who can create TriggerAuthentication and ScaledObject resources can set hashiCorpVault.address to a tenant-controlled endpoint and select Kubernetes authentication without an explicit credential. KEDA then uses the operator pod's projected ServiceAccount token and sends it to that endpoint as a Vault login credential. The JWT-shape filter from the prior CVE-2025-68476 remediation accepts the operator token because its subject is a Kubernetes ServiceAccount, so the attacker can obtain the operator's cluster-wide permissions, including broad Secret reads and workload or admission-related operations. This vulnerability is fixed in 2.21.0.

## Affected packages

- Go `github.com/kedacore/keda` <= 1.5.0 → fixed: none listed
- Go `github.com/kedacore/keda/v2` < 2.21.0 → fixed: 2.21.0

## Affected products (CVE record)

- kedacore keda: < 2.21.0

## Severity

- GitHub_M CVSS 3.1: 9.9 `CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`
- GitHub CVSS 3.1: 9.9 `CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`

## Exploitation

- CISA KEV: not listed (no confirmed in-the-wild exploitation known to CISA).
- CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation poc , automatable no , technical impact total .
- FIRST EPSS (model of 2026-10-21): 0.64% probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 50.

## Sources

- [GitHub Advisory GHSA-637c-6jxx-4rwm](https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-637c-6jxx-4rwm)
- [CVE.org record CVE-2026-77524](https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-77524)
- [NVD entry CVE-2026-77524](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-77524)
- [github.com](https://github.com/kedacore/keda/security/advisories/GHSA-637c-6jxx-4rwm)
- [github.com](https://github.com/kedacore/keda/commit/1e21cc798dedd079e696cdb45388eddc5e18365d)
- [github.com](https://github.com/kedacore/keda/releases/tag/v2.21.0)

---
Source page: https://erroneo.us/security/cve/CVE-2026-77524/ · Security Digest: https://erroneo.us/security/ · More: https://erroneo.us/llms.txt