{"id":"CVE-2026-18679","state":"PUBLISHED","title":"Kong Mesh: kuma-dp connects to the control plane without verifying the TLS certificate when no CA is configured","description":"When kuma-dp is started against an HTTPS control plane and the operator did not pass a CA certificate, the data plane connects with TLS peer verification disabled, and the dataplane authentication token is sent over that unverified connection.\n\n\n\nAn on-path actor can intercept the dataplane authentication token and impersonate the control plane to the data plane, injecting a forged bootstrap configuration and taking over the proxy.","publishedAt":"2026-08-12T18:52:31.146Z","updatedAt":"2026-08-13T14:45:35.957Z","severity":{"score":5.8,"label":"Medium","version":"4.0","vector":"CVSS:4.0/AV:A/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H","source":"Kong"},"assigner":"Kong","products":["Kong Inc. Kong Mesh"],"affected":[{"vendor":"Kong Inc.","product":"Kong Mesh","defaultStatus":"unaffected","versions":[{"version":"0","status":"affected","lessThan":"2.7.26","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"2.8.0","status":"affected","lessThan":"2.9.16","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"2.10.0","status":"affected","lessThan":"2.11.14","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"2.12.0","status":"affected","lessThan":"2.12.11","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"2.13.0","status":"affected","lessThan":"2.13.7","versionType":"semver"}],"platforms":["Linux"],"modules":["kuma-dp"]}],"references":["https://github.com/kumahq/kuma/security/advisories/GHSA-wvmp-6r4v-j6cv","https://github.com/kumahq/kuma/pull/16777","https://developer.konghq.com/mesh/changelog/"],"weaknesses":["CWE-295"],"ingestedAt":"2026-10-29T20:11:10.572Z","source":{"repository":"CVEProject/cvelistV5","path":"cves/2026/18xxx/CVE-2026-18679.json","commit":"556c9d3a8cd17e218bb8e452ba7cd619a384ff47"},"raw":{"dataType":"CVE_RECORD","dataVersion":"5.2","cveMetadata":{"cveId":"CVE-2026-18679","state":"PUBLISHED","datePublished":"2026-08-12T18:52:31.146Z","dateUpdated":"2026-08-13T14:45:35.957Z","assignerShortName":"Kong","assignerOrgId":"02762ae7-200e-4b20-9b2b-a77d5b8fc4cb","dateReserved":"2026-08-03T15:20:48.055Z"},"containers":{"cna":{"title":"Kong Mesh: kuma-dp connects to the control plane without verifying the TLS certificate when no CA is configured","descriptions":[{"lang":"en","value":"When kuma-dp is started against an HTTPS control plane and the operator did not pass a CA certificate, the data plane connects with TLS peer verification disabled, and the dataplane authentication token is sent over that unverified connection.\n\n\n\nAn on-path actor can intercept the dataplane authentication token and impersonate the control plane to the data plane, injecting a forged bootstrap configuration and taking over the proxy."}],"affected":[{"vendor":"Kong Inc.","product":"Kong Mesh","defaultStatus":"unaffected","versions":[{"version":"0","status":"affected","lessThan":"2.7.26","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"2.8.0","status":"affected","lessThan":"2.9.16","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"2.10.0","status":"affected","lessThan":"2.11.14","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"2.12.0","status":"affected","lessThan":"2.12.11","versionType":"semver"},{"version":"2.13.0","status":"affected","lessThan":"2.13.7","versionType":"semver"}],"platforms":["Linux"],"modules":["kuma-dp"]}],"references":[{"url":"https://github.com/kumahq/kuma/security/advisories/GHSA-wvmp-6r4v-j6cv","name":"Upstream advisory GHSA-wvmp-6r4v-j6cv","tags":["vendor-advisory"]},{"url":"https://github.com/kumahq/kuma/pull/16777","name":"kumahq/kuma#16777 (master)","tags":["patch"]},{"url":"https://developer.konghq.com/mesh/changelog/","name":"Kong MESH Changelog","tags":["release-notes"]}],"metrics":[{"format":"CVSS","scenarios":[{"lang":"en","value":"GENERAL"}],"cvssV4_0":{"attackVector":"ADJACENT","attackComplexity":"HIGH","attackRequirements":"PRESENT","privilegesRequired":"NONE","userInteraction":"NONE","vulnConfidentialityImpact":"NONE","subConfidentialityImpact":"HIGH","vulnIntegrityImpact":"NONE","subIntegrityImpact":"HIGH","vulnAvailabilityImpact":"NONE","subAvailabilityImpact":"HIGH","exploitMaturity":"NOT_DEFINED","Safety":"NOT_DEFINED","Automatable":"NOT_DEFINED","Recovery":"NOT_DEFINED","valueDensity":"NOT_DEFINED","vulnerabilityResponseEffort":"NOT_DEFINED","providerUrgency":"NOT_DEFINED","version":"4.0","baseSeverity":"MEDIUM","baseScore":5.8,"vectorString":"CVSS:4.0/AV:A/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H"}}],"problemTypes":[{"descriptions":[{"cweId":"CWE-295","lang":"en","description":"CWE-295 Improper Certificate Validation","type":"CWE"}]}],"providerMetadata":{"shortName":"Kong","orgId":"02762ae7-200e-4b20-9b2b-a77d5b8fc4cb","dateUpdated":"2026-08-12T18:52:31.146Z"},"impacts":[{"descriptions":[{"lang":"en","value":"Control plane impersonation"}]}],"configurations":[{"lang":"en","value":"You are affected if you run universal mode kuma-dp against an HTTPS control plane without --ca-cert-file, or with KUMA_CONTROL_PLANE_CA_CERT unset.\n\n\n\nYou are not affected if you install on Kubernetes through kumactl install control-plane or the official Kong Mesh Helm chart. In both cases the control plane's mutating admission webhook injects KUMA_CONTROL_PLANE_CA_CERT into every sidecar at pod admission, so each kuma-dp starts with the CA already configured.","supportingMedia":[{"type":"text/html","base64":false,"value":"<p>You are affected if you run universal mode <code>kuma-dp</code> against an HTTPS control plane without <code>--ca-cert-file</code>, or with <code>KUMA_CONTROL_PLANE_CA_CERT</code> unset.</p><p>You are not affected if you install on Kubernetes through <code>kumactl install control-plane</code> or the official Kong Mesh Helm chart. In both cases the control plane's mutating admission webhook injects <code>KUMA_CONTROL_PLANE_CA_CERT</code> into every sidecar at pod admission, so each <code>kuma-dp</code> starts with the CA already configured.</p>"}]}],"workarounds":[{"lang":"en","value":"Set --ca-cert-file, or KUMA_CONTROL_PLANE_CA_CERT, on every universal mode data plane and point it at the control plane's serving CA. Alternatively terminate the control plane behind a publicly trusted certificate.","supportingMedia":[{"type":"text/html","base64":false,"value":"<p>Set <code>--ca-cert-file</code>, or <code>KUMA_CONTROL_PLANE_CA_CERT</code>, on every universal mode data plane and point it at the control plane's serving CA. Alternatively terminate the control plane behind a publicly trusted certificate.</p>"}]}],"solutions":[{"lang":"en","value":"Upgrade to Kong Mesh 2.7.26, 2.9.16, 2.11.14, 2.12.11 or 2.13.7, whichever matches your release line. Patched releases fall back to the operating system trust store instead of disabling verification, so a publicly trusted control plane certificate verifies with no further configuration. The 2.14 line shipped after the fix and was never affected.","supportingMedia":[{"type":"text/html","base64":false,"value":"<p>Upgrade to Kong Mesh 2.7.26, 2.9.16, 2.11.14, 2.12.11 or 2.13.7, whichever matches your release line. Patched releases fall back to the operating system trust store instead of disabling verification, so a publicly trusted control plane certificate verifies with no further configuration. The 2.14 line shipped after the fix and was never affected.</p>"}]}],"timeline":[{"time":"2026-06-03T20:20:00.000Z","lang":"en","value":"Kong Mesh patched releases published"},{"time":"2026-07-16T16:42:00.000Z","lang":"en","value":"Upstream advisory GHSA-wvmp-6r4v-j6cv published"}],"source":{"discovery":"INTERNAL"}},"adp":[{"title":"CISA ADP Vulnrichment","metrics":[{"other":{"type":"ssvc","content":{"timestamp":"2026-08-13T14:45:22.142897Z","id":"CVE-2026-18679","options":[{"Exploitation":"none"},{"Automatable":"no"},{"Technical Impact":"partial"}],"role":"CISA Coordinator","version":"2.0.3"}}}],"providerMetadata":{"shortName":"CISA-ADP","orgId":"134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0","dateUpdated":"2026-08-13T14:45:35.957Z"}}]}}}