CVE-2026-27133Network attack vector

Broker impersonation via overbroad CA chain trust

Published Feb 20, 2026 · Updated Feb 20, 2026

Improper certificate validation in Strimzi Kafka Operator 0.47.0 through 0.50.0 allows remote authenticated users to impersonate Kafka brokers. The Kafka Connect trusted-certificates path and MirrorMaker 2 target-cluster path treat every certificate in a configured CA chain as an independent trust anchor instead of restricting trust to the last CA. Exploitation requires a multi-CA chain, high privileges, and a broker certificate signed by another CA in that chain; accepted broker impersonation exposes or alters Kafka traffic without interrupting service.

CVSS severity5.9
Medium
EPSS probability0.18%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
Coverage for this vulnerability

See if you're affected

Explore vulnerability checks for your environment with Hinoki.

Book a demo

Summary

What happened

Improper certificate validation in Strimzi Kafka Operator 0.47.0 through 0.50.0 allows remote authenticated users to impersonate Kafka brokers. The Kafka Connect trusted-certificates path and MirrorMaker 2 target-cluster path treat every certificate in a configured CA chain as an independent trust anchor instead of restricting trust to the last CA. Exploitation requires a multi-CA chain, high privileges, and a broker certificate signed by another CA in that chain; accepted broker impersonation exposes or alters Kafka traffic without interrupting service.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-27133
Published
Feb 20, 2026
Updated
Feb 20, 2026
Vendor
Strimzi
Product
Strimzi Kafka Operator
Classifications
CWE-295, CWE-296, T1557
Attack vector
network
Privileges
admin

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Feb 20, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Feb 20, 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=>= 0.47.0, < 0.51.1

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesadmin

What is affected?

Strimzi · Strimzi Kafka Operatorversion=>= 0.47.0, < 0.51.1

Published CVSS scores

5.9GitHubCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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.

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

No observations available

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

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-295Improper Certificate Validation
CWE-296Improper Following of a Certificate's Chain of Trust
T1557Adversary-in-the-Middle

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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

Technologies

Your stack

See the directory against your own environment.

Your stack

Check the software in your environment

Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.

Book a demo