CVE-2026-25518

MEDIUMNVD 5.95.9—
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

This medium-severity CVE scores 5.9 under NVD CVSS v3. EPSS exploit probability: 0.3%, top 72% of all CVEs by exploit prediction. GitHub Security Advisory data not yet ingested — confidence will rise once GHSA publishes (typical lag: hours to days for open-source ecosystem CVEs; never for infrastructure-only CVEs).

Triggered by: NVD CVSS baseline
Sources: epss, nvd
5.9EG
EchelonGraph verdictMonitorLow exploitation likelihood right now — keep watching.
  • Lower severity and no public exploit yet
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS PROB: 0%CVSS: 5.9Exploit: None knownExposed: 0

No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.

cert-manager adds certificates and certificate issuers as resource types in Kubernetes clusters, and simplifies the process of obtaining, renewing and using those certificates. In versions from 1.18.0 to before 1.18.5 and from 1.19.0 to before 1.19.3, the cert-manager-controller performs DNS lookups during ACME DNS-01 processing (for zone discovery and propagation self-checks). By default, these lookups use standard unencrypted DNS. An attacker who can intercept and modify DNS traffic from the cert-manager-controller pod can insert a crafted entry into cert-manager's DNS cache. Accessing this entry will trigger a panic, resulting in denial‑of‑service (DoS) of the cert-manager controller. The issue can also be exploited if the authoritative DNS server for the domain being validated is controlled by a malicious actor. This issue has been patched in versions 1.18.5 and 1.19.3.

CVSS v3
5.9
EG Score
5.9(medium)
EG Risk
27(Track)
EG Risk 27/100SSVC: Track

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity59% × 45%
Exploitation0% × 40%
Automatability0% × 15%
Action: Routine — remediate on your standard cadence.
EPSS PROB
0%
EPSS %ILE
30%
KEV
Not listed

Published

February 4, 2026

Last Modified

June 17, 2026

Advisory Details (7)

Auto-updated Aug 7, 2026
🔬 Proof of concept available. Patch available. Sources: github_commit, github_pr, github.
github Patch Available🟡 PoC Available

cert-manager-controller DoS via Specially Crafted DNS Response · Advisory · cert-manager/cert-manager · GitHub

https://github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager/security/advisories/GHSA-gx3x-vq4p-mhhv
github_pr Patch Available

Security: address GHSA-gx3x-vq4p-mhhv

Patch available: cert-manager/cert-manager v1.20.0-beta.0 (PR #8469 merged 2026-02-02)

https://github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager/pull/8469
github_pr Patch Available

[release-1.19] Security: address GHSA-gx3x-vq4p-mhhv

Patch available: cert-manager/cert-manager v1.19.3 (PR #8468 merged 2026-02-02)

https://github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager/pull/8468
github_pr Patch Available

[release-1.18] Security: address GHSA-gx3x-vq4p-mhhv

Patch available: cert-manager/cert-manager v1.18.5 (PR #8467 merged 2026-02-02)

https://github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager/pull/8467
github_commit Patch Available

commit d4faed26ae12 (cert-manager/cert-manager)

Patch available: cert-manager/cert-manager v1.19.3 (contains commit d4faed26ae12)

https://github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager/commit/d4faed26ae12115cceb807cdc12507ebc28980e2
github_commit Patch Available

commit 9a73a0b38530 (cert-manager/cert-manager)

Patch available: cert-manager/cert-manager v1.18.5 (contains commit 9a73a0b38530)

https://github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager/commit/9a73a0b3853035827edd37ac463e4803ba10327d
github_commit Patch Available

commit 409fc24e5397 (cert-manager/cert-manager)

Patch available: cert-manager/cert-manager v1.20.0-beta.0 (contains commit 409fc24e5397)

https://github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager/commit/409fc24e539711a07aae45ed45abbe03dfdad2cc

Affected Packages

(1 across 1 ecosystem)
Go(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager—1.19.3—

Weakness Classification(2)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 5× in last 7d / 26× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

Showing the most recent 100 of 158 total refreshes for this CVE.

  1. 2026-09-18 23:12 UTCOSV refresh
  2. 2026-09-18 19:27 UTCEPSS rescore
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Related CVEs(same CWE)

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2026-25518?
CVE-2026-25518 is a medium vulnerability published on February 4, 2026. cert-manager adds certificates and certificate issuers as resource types in Kubernetes clusters, and simplifies the process of obtaining, renewing and using those certificates. In versions from 1.18.0 to before 1.18.5 and from 1.19.0 to before 1.19.3, the cert-manager-controller performs DNS…
When was CVE-2026-25518 disclosed?
CVE-2026-25518 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on February 4, 2026, with the most recent update on June 17, 2026. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2026-25518 actively exploited?
CVE-2026-25518 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 0% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, which ranks it in the top 69.9% of all scored CVEs.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-25518?
CVE-2026-25518 has a CVSS v3 base score of 5.9 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2026-25518?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2026-25518, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

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