CVE-2026-18674

Kong Mesh multi-zone: the global control plane attributes KDS-synced resources by an unvalidated in-band zone identifier

Published Aug 17, 2026 CVSS 4.0 · 7 High EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
On a Kong Mesh global control plane, resources received over the zone-to-global KDS sync are attributed using the in-band, sender-controlled ControlPlane.Identifier rather than the authenticated zone identity derived from the connection. Authenticated zones can have the global control plane store and re-distribute those resources as belonging to another zone.



The result is a cross-zone isolation bypass: the holder of a single enrolled zone's credential can inject, attribute, and overwrite resources in another zone's namespace mesh-wide.




The root cause lives in Kuma's open-source KDS sync code, which Kong Mesh's control plane is built on.

Remediation

Vendor Solution

Upgrade to Kong Mesh 2.7.29, 2.9.19, 2.11.18, 2.12.14, 2.13.10 or 2.14.2, whichever matches your release line. In patched versions the global KDS ingest path attributes synced resources by the authenticated connection identity instead of the in-band field.


Vendor Workaround

Restrict which zones may enroll and protect zone tokens. No configuration flag disables the in-band attribution, so upgrading is the only fix.

Tracking

Sign in to view the affected projects.

Advisories

No advisories available
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Konghq
Konghq kong Mesh
Vendors & Products Konghq
Konghq kong Mesh
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description On a Kong Mesh global control plane, resources received over the zone-to-global KDS sync are attributed using the in-band, sender-controlled ControlPlane.Identifier rather than the authenticated zone identity derived from the connection. Authenticated zones can have the global control plane store and re-distribute those resources as belonging to another zone. The result is a cross-zone isolation bypass: the holder of a single enrolled zone's credential can inject, attribute, and overwrite resources in another zone's namespace mesh-wide. The root cause lives in Kuma's open-source KDS sync code, which Kong Mesh's control plane is built on.
Title Kong Mesh multi-zone: the global control plane attributes KDS-synced resources by an unvalidated in-band zone identifier
Weaknesses CWE-345
CWE-863
References
Metrics cvssV4_0

{'score': 7, 'vector': 'CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:L/VI:H/VA:N/SC:L/SI:L/SA:N'}

Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
Kong
Published
Updated
Aug 17, 2026, 2:46 PM
Reserved
Aug 3, 2026, 3:20 PM
Status
Awaiting Analysis
Published
Aug 17, 2026, 1:16 PM
Modified
Aug 31, 2026, 7:22 PM