Description
An NTLM coercion vulnerability exists on Windows nodes when the subPath supplied in a pod's volumeMounts is set to a symbolic link that points to an attacker-controlled network share. When a kubelet resolves symlinks, it does not reject a target that resolves to a UNC path. As a result, the kubelet will transparently attempt to authenticate to the share using NTLM. This allows an attacker to obtain the NetNTLMv2 hash of the account under which the kubelet is running. An attacker could then attempt to crack the hash to retrieve the corresponding password or relay it to impersonate the node, if the node is domain-joined.
Published: 2026-10-26
Score: 5.8 Medium
EPSS: n/a
KEV: No
AI Analysis

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Remediation

Vendor Solution

To mitigate this vulnerability, upgrade Kubernetes: https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/administer-cluster/cluster-upgrade/

Tracking

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Advisories

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History

Tue, 27 Oct 2026 05:30:00 +0100

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description A flaw was found in Kubernetes kubelet on Windows nodes. When kubelet resolves a volume subPath that is a symbolic link, it does not reject an ordinary UNC network path. Following that link causes Windows to authenticate to the remote share with NTLM, exposing the NetNTLMv2 hash of the kubelet account. That hash may be cracked or, if the node is domain-joined, used in an NTLM relay. An NTLM coercion vulnerability exists on Windows nodes when the subPath supplied in a pod's volumeMounts is set to a symbolic link that points to an attacker-controlled network share. When a kubelet resolves symlinks, it does not reject a target that resolves to a UNC path. As a result, the kubelet will transparently attempt to authenticate to the share using NTLM. This allows an attacker to obtain the NetNTLMv2 hash of the account under which the kubelet is running. An attacker could then attempt to crack the hash to retrieve the corresponding password or relay it to impersonate the node, if the node is domain-joined.
Title kubelet: kubelet: Subpath symlinking on Windows nodes permits NTLM coercion Subpath symlinking on Windows nodes permits NTLM coercion
References

Tue, 29 Sep 2026 15:30:00 +0200

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Kubernetes
Kubernetes kubelet
Vendors & Products Kubernetes
Kubernetes kubelet

Fri, 25 Sep 2026 14:15:00 +0200

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description A flaw was found in Kubernetes kubelet on Windows nodes. When kubelet resolves a volume subPath that is a symbolic link, it does not reject an ordinary UNC network path. Following that link causes Windows to authenticate to the remote share with NTLM, exposing the NetNTLMv2 hash of the kubelet account. That hash may be cracked or, if the node is domain-joined, used in an NTLM relay.
Title kubelet: kubelet: Subpath symlinking on Windows nodes permits NTLM coercion
Weaknesses CWE-59
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

cvssV3_1

{'score': 5.8, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N'}

threat_severity

Moderate


Subscriptions

Kubernetes Kubelet
cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: kubernetes

Published:

Updated: 2026-10-26T23:10:47.018Z

Reserved: 2026-08-19T15:51:12.670Z

Link: CVE-2026-76654

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2026-10-26T23:17:09.750

Modified: 2026-10-27T00:17:34.407

Link: CVE-2026-76654

cve-icon Redhat

Severity : Moderate

Publid Date: 2026-09-15T16:00:00Z

Links: CVE-2026-76654 - Bugzilla

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-10-27T09:00:17Z

Weaknesses
  • CWE-59

    Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')