Kiali
CVE-2021-20278
MEDIUM
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A07:2025 - Authentication Failures
ASVS 5.0
V6 - Authentication Anti-spoofing controls
MITRE ATT&CK
1 technique across 1 tactic: Defense Evasion The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Impact | CVSS score of 6.5 (MEDIUM). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, no user interaction not required. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | This vulnerability can be exploited remotely over the network. Successful exploitation could compromise the medium-severity affected system. |
Get an e-mail when this CVE is exploited, patched or re-scored. Free account.
Alert meAnalysisAI
An authentication bypass vulnerability was found in Kiali in versions before 1.31.0 when the authentication strategy OpenID is used. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
RemediationAI
A vendor patch is available. Apply the latest security update as soon as possible. Apply vendor patches when available. Implement network segmentation and monitoring as interim mitigations.
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in go
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
This vulnerability is classified under CWE-290. An authentication bypass vulnerability was found in Kiali in versions before 1.31.0 when the authentication strategy OpenID is used. When RBAC is enabled, Kiali assumes that some of the token validation is handled by the underlying cluster. When OpenID implicit flow is used with RBAC turned off, this token validation doesn't occur, and this allows a malicious user to bypass the authentication. Affected products include: Kiali. Version information: before 1.31.0.
Know when Kiali gets its next vulnerability
- Watch products and get an email when something new is published
- Check this CVE against your own stack and servers
- Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources
No credit card · 7-day full trial
Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorNVD
DescriptionNVD
An authentication bypass vulnerability was found in Kiali in versions before 1.31.0 when the authentication strategy OpenID is used. When RBAC is enabled, Kiali assumes that some of the token validation is handled by the underlying cluster. When OpenID implicit flow is used with RBAC turned off, this token validation doesn't occur, and this allows a malicious user to bypass the authentication.
Threat Intelligence Overview
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications.
Affected Products (CPE)NVD
A hard-coded cryptographic key vulnerability in the default configuration file was found in Kiali, all versions prior to
An insufficient JWT validation vulnerability was found in Kiali versions 0.4.0 to 1.15.0 and was fixed in Kiali version
GitHub PoC
Exploit-DB