CVE-2022-39388

Workload identity impersonation via missing XFCC authentication

Published Nov 10, 2022 · Updated Apr 23, 2025

Incorrect authorization in Istio 1.15.2 allows local users with access to the Istiod control plane to impersonate any mesh workload. Istiod's caller-authentication path fails to bind XFCC-derived workload identity to an authorized peer; the patch adds an XFCC authenticator and corrects trusted-address parsing. The attacker must reach Istiod from the same machine, and successful impersonation grants the target workload's mesh identity and associated access.

CVSS severity7.6
High
EPSS probability0.48%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Incorrect authorization in Istio 1.15.2 allows local users with access to the Istiod control plane to impersonate any mesh workload. Istiod's caller-authentication path fails to bind XFCC-derived workload identity to an authorized peer; the patch adds an XFCC authenticator and corrects trusted-address parsing. The attacker must reach Istiod from the same machine, and successful impersonation grants the target workload's mesh identity and associated access.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-39388
Published
Nov 10, 2022
Updated
Apr 23, 2025
Vendor
Istio
Product
Istio
Classifications
CWE-863, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Nov 10, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. 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.

  1. Affected versionversion=>= 1.15.0-beta.0, < 1.15.3

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Istio · Istioversion=>= 1.15.0-beta.0, < 1.15.3

Published CVSS scores

7.6GitHub CNACVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:N

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

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.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-863Incorrect Authorization
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

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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