What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-3288?

CVE-2026-3288 has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.8 (High). CVSS vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. EPSS exploitation probability: 0.0%.

Which versions of Kubernetes are affected by CVE-2026-3288?

A critical vulnerability in ingress-nginx allows attackers to inject malicious nginx configuration through a standard Kubernetes annotation, potentially enabling unauthorized access, data…

Is there a public PoC exploit available for CVE-2026-3288?

Yes, a public proof-of-concept exploit is available for CVE-2026-3288. Prioritise patching immediately. EPSS: 0.0%.

How to fix or mitigate CVE-2026-3288?

Within 24 hours: Inventory all ingress-nginx deployments and identify which are internet-facing or process untrusted traffic; implement network segmentation to restrict access to ingress controller endpoints. Within 7 days: Deploy WAF rules to detect and block suspicious rewrite-target annotation patterns; implement admission controllers to validate and restrict ingress annotation values. Within 30 days: Evaluate alternative ingress controllers or hardened configurations; establish input validation policies for all Ingress resource definitions; conduct security audit of existing ingress configurations for indicators of compromise.

Kubernetes CVE-2026-3288

HIGH

Improper Input Validation (CWE-20)

2026-03-09 jordan@liggitt.net

Nginx Kubernetes RCE

8.8

CVSS 3.1 · NVD

Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY

8.8 HIGH

AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

Low

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

High

Lifecycle Timeline

Analysis Generated

Mar 12, 2026 - 21:56 vuln.today

CVE Published

Mar 09, 2026 - 21:16 nvd

HIGH 8.8

DescriptionCVE.org

A security issue was discovered in ingress-nginx where the nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/rewrite-target Ingress annotation can be used to inject configuration into nginx. This can lead to arbitrary code execution in the context of the ingress-nginx controller, and disclosure of Secrets accessible to the controller. (Note that in the default installation, the controller can access all Secrets cluster-wide.)

Articles & Coverage 1

webflow.sysdig.com CVE-2026-3288: NGINX Ingress Controller Configuration Injection via Path Field Mar 17, 2026

AnalysisAI

Arbitrary code execution in ingress-nginx controllers via malicious rewrite-target annotations allows authenticated attackers to execute commands and exfiltrate cluster secrets. Kubernetes administrators using ingress-nginx are at risk, particularly in default configurations where the controller has cluster-wide secret access. No patch is currently available.

Technical ContextAI

Classified as CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation). A security issue was discovered in ingress-nginx where the nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/rewrite-target Ingress annotation can be used to inject configuration into nginx. This can lead to arbitrary code execution in the context of the ingress-nginx controller, and disclosure of Secrets accessible to the controller. (Note that in the default installation, the controller can access all Secrets cluster-wide.)