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CVE-2026-33413 — etcd: Authorization bypasses in...

HIGH

etcd: Authorization bypasses in multiple APIs

Published March 20, 2026Updated September 10, 2026Source: osv

Summary

### Impact _What kind of vulnerability is it? Who is impacted?_ Multiple vulnerabilities allow unauthorized users to bypass authentication or authorization checks and call certain etcd functions in clusters that expose the gRPC API to untrusted or partially trusted clients. In unpatched etcd clusters with etcd auth enabled, unauthorized users are able to: - call MemberList and learn cluster topology, including member IDs and advertised endpoints - call Alarm, which can be abused for operational disruption or denial of service - use Lease APIs, interfering with TTL-based keys and lease ownership - trigger compaction, permanently removing historical revisions and disrupting watch, audit, and recovery workflows Kubernetes does not rely on etcd’s built-in authentication and authorization. Instead, the API server handles authentication and authorization itself, so typical Kubernetes deployments are not affected. ### Patches _Has the problem been patched? What versions should users upgrade to?_ These vulnerabilities are patched in the following versions: * etcd 3.6.9 * etcd 3.5.28 * etcd 3.4.42 ### Workarounds _Is there a way for users to fix or remediate the vulnerability without upgrading?_ If upgrading is not immediately possible, reduce exposure by treating the affected RPCs as unauthenticated in practice. - restrict network access to etcd server ports so only trusted components can connect - require strong client identity at the transport layer, such as mTLS with tightly scoped client certificate distribution ### Reporters _Community efforts help keep etcd secure_ The etcd community thanks Isaac David, bugbunny.ai, Asim Viladi Oglu Manizada, Alex Schapiro & Ahmed Allam from Strix security, Luke Francis, and @OLU-DEVX for reporting these vulnerabilities. ### Dependency Between Reported Issues These issues all originate from the same underlying flaw in the gRPC API layer. They affect the same API surface and share a common root cause. In practice, the fix is implemented as a single, unified change at the API layer, which resolves all issues together. Given this, we believe these issues are best treated as a single vulnerability and should be assigned a single CVE.

Advisory Timeline

  • First published March 20, 2026 (206 days ago).
  • Last revised September 10, 2026 — 173 days after initial publication.

Remediation

Upgrade to the fixed version using your package manager.

Go
Update go.etcd.io/etcd/v3 to 3.4.42 or later
go get go.etcd.io/etcd/v3@v3.4.42
Go
Update go.etcd.io/etcd/v3 to 3.6.9 or later
go get go.etcd.io/etcd/v3@v3.6.9
Go
Update go.etcd.io/etcd/v3 to 3.5.28 or later
go get go.etcd.io/etcd/v3@v3.5.28

After upgrading, run your dependency scanner again to confirm the vulnerability is resolved.

Affected Packages (4)

Affects 1 ecosystem: go (2).

PackageEcosystemAffectedFixed In
go.etcd.io/etcd/v3
go
All versions3.4.42
go.etcd.io/etcd/v3
go
All versions3.6.9
go.etcd.io/etcd
go
All versionsRange-based data available
go.etcd.io/etcd/v3
go
All versions3.5.28

Vulnerability Classification

Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) identifiers for this vulnerability type.

  • CWE-862
    Missing AuthorizationMITRE

CVSS Score Breakdown

What the CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) 8.6 score means for each attack dimension.

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
—
Confidentiality
—
Integrity
—
Availability
—

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-33413?
etcd: Authorization bypasses in multiple APIs This vulnerability has been assigned a severity rating of HIGH (CVSS score: 8.6/10).
How do I check if my project is affected by CVE-2026-33413?
CVE-2026-33413 affects go.etcd.io/etcd/v3 and go.etcd.io/etcd. Use GeekWala's free vulnerability scanner to check your dependencies against CVE-2026-33413 and 200,000+ other known vulnerabilities.

Severity & Exploitability

CVSS Score
8.6

High exploitability or significant impact. Prioritize remediation within days.

Also Known As

GHSA-q8m4-xhhv-38mg
BIT-etcd-2026-33413
GO-2026-4806

Related CVEs

  • CVE-2021-28235
    CRITICAL

    Etcd-io Improper Authentication vulnerability

  • CVE-2026-107809
    HIGH

    Nginx-UI AuthRequired token cookie fallback enables CSRF against management APIs

  • CVE-2026-107813
    HIGH

    Nginx UI: Incomplete fix of CVE-2026-84315 - the api/cluster router was not - wrapped in RequireSecureSession, so those sensitive mutations run without OTP step-up

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