Grafana Operator: Privilege escalation from namespace admin to cluster admin via GrafanaDashboard jsonnetLib fileName

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS 4.0

6.4 · CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:N · score source

EPSS

• CVE-2026-11769: 0.36% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 29.95 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

We have released version 5.24.0 of the Grafana Operator. This patch includes a MODERATE severity security fix for a path traversal/privilege escalation vulnerability in the Grafana Operator. Summary The Grafana Operator supports loading dashboards & library panels using the jsonnet data templating language. The jsonnet expression is evaluated in the context of the operator manager pod. Impact It is possible for a malicious user who can create Dashboard or LibraryPanel resources for a Grafana instance to obtain the Kubernetes service account token of the Grafana Operator manager. Affected versions All Grafana Operator versions <= 5.23 Solutions and mitigations All installations should be upgraded as soon as possible. As a workaround, the following ValidatingAdmissionPolicy prevent the creation or modification of jsonnet based resources: Acknowledgement We would like to thank Artem Cherezov for responsibly disclosing the vulnerability.

Published by the source

19 Jun 2026, 20:51 UTC

Last modified by the source

19 Jun 2026, 20:51 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 15:24 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-fcw4-wwqm-m8cf

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2026-11769

Advisory: Grafana Operator: Privilege escalation from namespace admin to cluster admin via GrafanaDashboard jsonnetLib fileName
IDs: CVE-2026-11769, GHSA-fcw4-wwqm-m8cf
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2026-11769 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 15:24 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Medium (CVSS 6.4)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Partial vendor fix; fixed versions by package: github.com/grafana/grafana-operator/v5 5.24.0. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Go github.com/grafana/grafana-operator/v5: affected <= 5.23.0; fixed in 5.24.0
- Go github.com/grafana/grafana-operator: affected <= 2.0.0

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Go github.com/grafana/grafana-operator/v5: check the installed version with your package manager.
- Go github.com/grafana/grafana-operator: check the installed version with your package manager.

## Supported action
No complete vendor fix is recorded. Follow the primary source's mitigation guidance and check this record again before closing anything.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on github.com/grafana/grafana-operator/v5, github.com/grafana/grafana-operator.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-fcw4-wwqm-m8cf (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-fcw4-wwqm-m8cf lists affected ranges: Go github.com/grafana/grafana-operator/v5 >=0 =0 <=2.0.0)

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