CVE-2026-22771Public exploitNetwork attack vector

Authenticated code execution via unrestricted Lua validation

Published Jan 12, 2026 · Updated Jan 12, 2026

Code injection in Envoy Gateway before 1.5.7 and 1.6.0-rc.0 through 1.6.1 allows remote authenticated users to execute Lua code. EnvoyExtensionPolicy validation interprets policy-supplied Lua inside the controller pod without guardrails, while proxy execution lets io.open read mounted XDS credentials. Kubernetes RBAC permission to create these policies is required; exposed service-account or XDS credentials grant access to control-plane secrets and pods.

CVSS severity8.8
High
EPSS probability0.63%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Code injection in Envoy Gateway before 1.5.7 and 1.6.0-rc.0 through 1.6.1 allows remote authenticated users to execute Lua code. EnvoyExtensionPolicy validation interprets policy-supplied Lua inside the controller pod without guardrails, while proxy execution lets io.open read mounted XDS credentials. Kubernetes RBAC permission to create these policies is required; exposed service-account or XDS credentials grant access to control-plane secrets and pods.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-22771
Published
Jan 12, 2026
Updated
Jan 12, 2026
Vendor
Envoy Proxy
Product
Envoy Gateway
Classifications
CWE-94, CWE-20, CWE-74, T1552.001
Attack vector
network
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jan 12, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Jan 12, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=< 1.5.7
  2. Affected versionversion=>= 1.6.0-rc.0, < 1.6.2

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Envoy Proxy · Envoy Gatewayversion=< 1.5.7; version=>= 1.6.0-rc.0, < 1.6.2

Published CVSS scores

8.8GitHubCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-94Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')
CWE-20Improper Input Validation
CWE-74Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component ('Injection')
T1552.001Unsecured Credentials: Credentials In Files

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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