Summary
Grafana Operator: Privilege escalation from namespace admin to cluster admin via GrafanaDashboard jsonnetLib fileName
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.
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.
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:
apiVersion: admissionregistration.k8s.io/v1
kind: ValidatingAdmissionPolicy
metadata:
name: "prevent-jsonnet-dashboards"
spec:
failurePolicy: Fail
matchConstraints:
resourceRules:
- apiGroups: ["grafana.integreatly.org"]
apiVersions: ["v1beta1"]
operations: ["CREATE", "UPDATE"]
resources: ["grafanadashboards", "grafanalibrarypanels"]
validations:
- expression: "!has(object.spec.jsonnetLib)"
---
apiVersion: admissionregistration.k8s.io/v1
kind: ValidatingAdmissionPolicyBinding
metadata:
name: "prevent-jsonnet-dashboards-clusterwide"
spec:
policyName: "prevent-jsonnet-dashboards"
validationActions: [Deny]
Acknowledgement
We would like to thank Artem Cherezov for responsibly disclosing the vulnerability.
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.
Input manipulates file paths to reach files outside the intended directory, such as configuration or credential files. Typical impact: unauthorized file read or write outside the intended directory.
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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Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2026-11769? CVE-2026-11769 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in github.com/grafana/grafana-operator/v5 (go), affecting versions <= 5.23.0. It is fixed in 5.24.0. Input manipulates file paths to reach files outside the intended directory, such as configuration or credential files.
- Which packages are affected by CVE-2026-11769?
github.com/grafana/grafana-operator/v5(go) (versions <= 5.23.0)github.com/grafana/grafana-operator(go) (versions <= 2.0.0)
- Is there a fix for CVE-2026-11769? Yes. CVE-2026-11769 is fixed in 5.24.0. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2026-11769 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-11769 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-2026-11769 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-2026-11769? Upgrade
github.com/grafana/grafana-operator/v5to 5.24.0 or later.