Full API access via unrestricted client-certificate signing
Published Sep 13, 2022 · Updated Apr 23, 2025
Privilege escalation in Sidero Labs Talos Linux before 1.2.2 allows local users to obtain full Talos API access with a crafted CSR. The trustd Certificate handler signs join-token-authenticated CSRs without restricting client-auth organizations or RBAC roles, allowing an os:admin certificate. Exploitation requires an untrusted workload to read protected machine configuration through an exposed hostPath or cloud metadata service; correctly isolated workloads are unaffected.
Summary
What happened
Privilege escalation in Sidero Labs Talos Linux before 1.2.2 allows local users to obtain full Talos API access with a crafted CSR. The trustd Certificate handler signs join-token-authenticated CSRs without restricting client-auth organizations or RBAC roles, allowing an os:admin certificate. Exploitation requires an untrusted workload to read protected machine configuration through an exposed hostPath or cloud metadata service; correctly isolated workloads are unaffected.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-36103
- Published
- Sep 13, 2022
- Updated
- Apr 23, 2025
- Vendor
- Sidero Labs
- Product
- Talos Linux
- Classifications
- CWE-732, CWE-863, T1649
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- admin
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 13, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Apr 23, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=< 1.2.2
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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