Critical [CVE-2026-71470] Search CR imageOverride/arguments/envVar flow unsanitized into pods running impersonating SA

A flaw was found in the search-v2-operator. This vulnerability allows a privileged user, specifically a Custom Resource (CR) editor, to manipulate Search CR fields such as imageOverride, arguments, and environment variables without proper validation.

By exploiting this, an attacker can mount arbitrary secrets into a search container's environment or replace the container image with an attacker-controlled one. This leads to privilege escalation and can result in a full cluster compromise due to the ServiceAccount's extensive impersonation permissions.

This is an Important vulnerability in Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes. Exploitation requires an already-privileged CR editor, which is why this does not meet the bar for Critical under the unauthenticated-RCE standard.

Red Hat severity: Important — CVSS 9.1 (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H). Weakness: CWE-913.

Red Hat fixing advisory: RHSA-2026:60387, RHSA-2026:60390, RHSA-2026:60388, RHSA-2026:60389, RHSA-2026:60391, RHSA-2026:60386.

Affected products named by the advisory: Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.11; Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.13; Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.14; Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.15; and 2 more.