CVE-2026-25518 (GCVE-0-2026-25518)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-02-04 21:18 – Updated: 2026-02-05 14:31
VLAI
Title
cert-manager-controller DoS via Specially Crafted DNS Response
Summary
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.
Severity
5.9 (Medium)
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
SSVC
Exploitation: none Automatable: no Technical Impact: partial
CISA Coordinator (v2.0.3)
CWE
  • CWE-129 - Improper Validation of Array Index
  • CWE-704 - Incorrect Type Conversion or Cast
Assigner
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version
cert-manager cert-manager Affected: >= 1.18.0, < 1.18.5
Affected: >= 1.19.0, < 1.19.3
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Forecast uses a logistic model when the trend is rising, or an exponential decay model when the trend is falling. Fitted via linearized least squares.

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  • Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
  • Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
  • Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
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