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CVE-2026-85596: Traefik: Authentication bypass

CVE-2026-85596 is rated critical with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 and affects Traefik. Per its scoring, it can be exploited over the network, without authentication, without any user interaction. The scored impact on confidentiality, integrity and availability is the highest available.

Vulnerability description

Traefik versions >= v3.7.0 and <= v3.7.10 contain an authentication bypass in the Kubernetes Ingress NGINX provider. The TLS option generated for an Ingress carrying the nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/auth-tls-secret annotation was named after the Ingress namespace and name. As a result, two Ingress objects sharing the same host, the same client CA secret, and the same client-authentication mode produced two distinct TLS option names for that host. Traefik treats this as a TLS options conflict and falls back to the entry point's default TLS configuration, which does not request a client certificate, so a route configured with nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/auth-tls-verify-client: "on" becomes reachable without a client certificate. Only the v3.7 line is affected; the issue is fixed in v3.7.11.

Severity breakdown

CVSS v3.1 9.8: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

  • Attack vector: Network. Exploitable remotely over the network, with no need for local or physical access.
  • Attack complexity: Low. No special conditions; the attack can be repeated reliably.
  • Privileges required: None. No account or prior access is needed.
  • User interaction: None. No action from any user is needed.
  • Scope: Unchanged. Impact stays within the vulnerable component.
  • Confidentiality impact: High. Total loss of confidentiality; sensitive data can be fully disclosed.
  • Integrity impact: High. Total loss of integrity; data or system state can be fully modified.
  • Availability impact: High. Total loss of availability; the component can be shut down.

Underlying weakness

CWE-287: Improper Authentication

When an actor claims to have a given identity, the product does not prove or insufficiently proves that the claim is correct.

Affected products

  • Traefik: from 3.7.0 before 3.7.11

References