CVE-2026-18678

Kong Mesh: kumactl connects to the control plane without verifying the TLS certificate when no CA is configured

Published Aug 12, 2026 CVSS 4.0 · 5.5 Medium EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
When an operator adds an HTTPS control plane profile to kumactl without providing a CA certificate, kumactl disables TLS verification and sends API tokens over the unverified connection.



An attacker on the network path between the operator and the control plane can intercept user or admin API tokens and then act against the control plane as that user.

Remediation

Vendor Solution

Upgrade to Kong Mesh 2.7.26, 2.9.16, 2.11.14, 2.12.11 or 2.13.7, whichever matches your release line. Patched releases fall back to the operating system trust store instead of disabling verification, so a publicly trusted control plane certificate verifies with no further configuration. The 2.14 line shipped after the fix and was never affected.


Vendor Workaround

When adding an HTTPS control plane profile to kumactl, always pass --ca-cert-file pointing at the control plane's serving CA. Alternatively terminate the control plane behind a publicly trusted certificate.

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 When an operator adds an HTTPS control plane profile to kumactl without providing a CA certificate, kumactl disables TLS verification and sends API tokens over the unverified connection. An attacker on the network path between the operator and the control plane can intercept user or admin API tokens and then act against the control plane as that user.
Title Kong Mesh: kumactl connects to the control plane without verifying the TLS certificate when no CA is configured
Weaknesses CWE-295
References
Metrics cvssV4_0

{'score': 5.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:4.0/AV:A/AC:H/AT:P/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H'}

Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
Kong
Published
Updated
Aug 13, 2026, 2:47 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