Summary
OpenChoreo: Unauthenticated access to data-plane operations via OpenChoreo cluster-gateway management APIs
The OpenChoreo control-plane cluster-gateway served its caller-facing management APIs on the same network listener that accepts data-plane agent connections. In the multi-cluster topology that listener is published outside the cluster, and the management APIs did not authenticate the calling client. A party able to reach the listener could therefore invoke privileged data-plane operations without authenticating and without passing through the OpenChoreo API server's authorization.
Workarounds
If you cannot upgrade immediately:
- If you do run remote data planes, restrict reachability of the external gateway endpoint to known data-plane source addresses only (firewall / gateway-level allowlisting).
Impact
An attacker who can reach the externally published cluster-gateway endpoint can perform data-plane operations normally restricted to the OpenChoreo API server and gated by its authorization, including proxying the data plane's Kubernetes API and executing commands inside workload pods. This can result in full compromise of workloads on the affected data plane (disclosure, tampering, and denial of service).
The exposure applies to the multi-cluster / remote data-plane topology, where the cluster-gateway is published outside the cluster so remote data-plane agents can connect. That same externally reachable listener also served the caller-facing management APIs, which did not authenticate the caller. Deployments that do not publish the cluster-gateway outside the cluster are not affected.
A critical operation is accessible without requiring any authentication. Typical impact: any user can invoke the privileged function.
CVE-2026-73843 has a CVSS score of 9.6 (Critical). The vector is reachable from an adjacent network, 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 (1.0.2, 1.1.2); 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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Fixed in 1.0.2, 1.1.2, and 1.2.0. The fix moves the caller-facing management APIs onto a separate internal listener that is not published outside the cluster, leaving only the agent-connection endpoint on the externally reachable listener. Upgrading is non-disruptive, no data-plane agent or configuration changes are required beyond the standard chart upgrade. Upgrade path: 1.1.x → 1.1.2, 1.0.x and earlier → 1.0.2, 1.2 line → 1.2.0.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is CVE-2026-73843? CVE-2026-73843 is a critical-severity missing authentication for critical function vulnerability in github.com/openchoreo/openchoreo (go), affecting versions < 1.0.2. It is fixed in 1.0.2, 1.1.2. A critical operation is accessible without requiring any authentication.
- How severe is CVE-2026-73843? CVE-2026-73843 has a CVSS score of 9.6 (Critical). 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/openchoreo/openchoreo are affected by CVE-2026-73843? github.com/openchoreo/openchoreo (go) versions < 1.0.2 is affected.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2026-73843? Yes. CVE-2026-73843 is fixed in 1.0.2, 1.1.2. Upgrade to this version or later.
- Is CVE-2026-73843 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-73843 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-2026-73843 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-2026-73843?
- Upgrade
github.com/openchoreo/openchoreoto 1.0.2 or later - Upgrade
github.com/openchoreo/openchoreoto 1.1.2 or later
- Upgrade