OpenFeature Operator vulnerable to Cluster-level Privilege EscalationGHSA-cwf6-xj49-wp83
HIGHGHSA-cwf6-xj49-wp83 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.8) Improper Privilege Management vulnerability in github.com/open-feature/open-feature-operator. A fix is available for github.com/open-feature/open-feature-operator — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for GHSA-cwf6-xj49-wp83.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
github.com/open-feature/open-feature-operatorReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Go packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
The OpenFeature Operator allows users to expose feature flags to applications. Assuming the pre-existence of a vulnerability that allows for arbitrary code execution, an attacker could leverage the lax permissions configured on open-feature-operator-controller-manager to escalate the privileges of any SA in the cluster. The increased privileges could be used to modify cluster state, leading to DoS, or read sensitive data, including secrets. Version 0.2.32 mitigates this issue by restricting the resources the open-feature-operator-controller-manager can modify.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐹Go | github.com/open-feature/open-feature-operator | all versions | 0.2.32go get github.com/open-feature/open-feature-operator@v0.2.32 |
Affected Products
openfeaturelinuxfoundationDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for github.com/open-feature/open-feature-operator, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update github.com/open-feature/open-feature-operator to 0.2.32 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-cwf6-xj49-wp83 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
Close the privilege gap rather than the entry point: audit which accounts, roles and service identities can reach the affected operation, drop the component to the least privilege it actually needs, and review file and directory permissions created by earlier installs — a default left in place is what makes this reachable.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-cwf6-xj49-wp83 in your dependencies?
Find it across Go, including transitive dependencies.