Summary
Authentication bypass issue in the Operator Console
During an internal security audit, we detected an authentication bypass issue in the Operator Console when an external IDP is enabled. The security issue has been reported internally. We have not observed this exploit in the wild or reported elsewhere in the community at large. All users are advised to upgrade ASAP.
Workarounds
Add automountServiceAccountToken: false to the operator-console deployment in Kubernetes so no service account token will get mounted inside the pod, then disable the external identity provider authentication by unset the CONSOLE_IDP_URL, CONSOLE_IDP_CLIENT_ID, CONSOLE_IDP_SECRET and CONSOLE_IDP_CALLBACK environment variable and instead use the Kubernetes service account token.
References
#1217 for more information on the fix and how it was fixed.
For more information
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:
- Open an issue in console issues
- Email us at [email protected]
Impact
All users on release v0.12.2 and before are affected.
A critical operation is accessible without requiring any authentication. Typical impact: any user can invoke the privileged function.
CVE-2021-41266 has a CVSS score of 8.6 (High). The vector is network-reachable, no privileges required, and no user interaction. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (0.12.3); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.
Affected versions
Security releases
Kodem intelligence
Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.
Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.
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This issue was fixed by PR https://github.com/minio/console/pull/1217, users should upgrade to latest release.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2021-41266? CVE-2021-41266 is a high-severity missing authentication for critical function vulnerability in github.com/minio/console (go), affecting versions < 0.12.3. It is fixed in 0.12.3. A critical operation is accessible without requiring any authentication.
- How severe is CVE-2021-41266? CVE-2021-41266 has a CVSS score of 8.6 (High). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
- Which versions of github.com/minio/console are affected by CVE-2021-41266? github.com/minio/console (go) versions < 0.12.3 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2021-41266? Yes. CVE-2021-41266 is fixed in 0.12.3. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2021-41266 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2021-41266 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
- What actually determines whether CVE-2021-41266 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
- How do I fix CVE-2021-41266? Upgrade
github.com/minio/consoleto 0.12.3 or later.