CVE-2026-18675

Kong Mesh: control plane denial of service via a malformed dataplane token with a non-string JWT kid

Published Aug 12, 2026 CVSS 4.0 · 5.3 Medium EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
The dataplane token validator in kuma-cp performs an unchecked Go type assertion on the JWT kid header. A token whose kid is a JSON number decodes as a float64 and triggers a runtime panic before any signature, claims, or authorization check runs.



The panic terminates the entire kuma-cp process, HTTP API, the health and readiness endpoints, and xDS. Unauthenticated access to the dataplane gRPC server can trigger the crash with a malformed token



A single request is a transient interruption; sustaining an outage requires repeated requests.

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 validator rejects a non-string kid header and the dataplane server recovers from handler panics.


Vendor Workaround

Restrict network access to the dataplane (xDS) gRPC port to trusted data planes.

Tracking

Sign in to view the affected projects.

Advisories

No advisories available
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

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

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Konghq
Konghq kong Mesh
Vendors & Products Konghq
Konghq kong Mesh
Type Values Removed Values Added
Description The dataplane token validator in kuma-cp performs an unchecked Go type assertion on the JWT kid header. A token whose kid is a JSON number decodes as a float64 and triggers a runtime panic before any signature, claims, or authorization check runs. The panic terminates the entire kuma-cp process, HTTP API, the health and readiness endpoints, and xDS. Unauthenticated access to the dataplane gRPC server can trigger the crash with a malformed token A single request is a transient interruption; sustaining an outage requires repeated requests.
Title Kong Mesh: control plane denial of service via a malformed dataplane token with a non-string JWT kid
Weaknesses CWE-248
CWE-704
References
Metrics cvssV4_0

{'score': 5.3, 'vector': 'CVSS:4.0/AV:A/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N'}

Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
Kong
Published
Updated
Aug 13, 2026, 3:28 PM
Reserved
Aug 3, 2026, 3:20 PM
Status
Awaiting Analysis
Published
Aug 12, 2026, 7:17 PM
Modified
Oct 23, 2026, 7:10 PM