CVE-2021-20278
Kiali Authentication Bypass vulnerability
An authentication bypass vulnerability was found in Kiali in versions before 1.31.0 when the authentication strategy OpenID is used. When RBAC is enabled, Kiali assumes that some of the token validation is handled by the underlying cluster. When OpenID implicit flow is used with RBAC turned off, this token validation doesn't occur, and this allows a malicious user to bypass the authentication.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
NVD Score used
An authentication bypass vulnerability was found in Kiali in versions before 1.31.0 when the authentication strategy OpenID is used. When RBAC is enabled, Kiali assumes that some of the token validation is handled by the underlying cluster. When OpenID implicit flow is used with RBAC turned off, this token validation doesn't occur, and this allows a malicious user to bypass the authentication.
- Record
CVE-2021-20278- CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N - CVSS 2.0
- 5.8 Medium
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-290, CWE-287
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
CVE List No score
An authentication bypass vulnerability was found in Kiali in versions before 1.31.0 when the authentication strategy OpenID is used. When RBAC is enabled, Kiali assumes that some of the token validation is handled by the underlying cluster. When OpenID implicit flow is used with RBAC turned off, this token validation doesn't occur, and this allows a malicious user to bypass the authentication.
- Record
CVE-2021-20278- Weakness
- CWE-290
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2021-1325 No score
An authentication bypass vulnerability was found in Kiali in versions before 1.31.0 when the authentication strategy OpenID is used. When RBAC is enabled, Kiali assumes that some of the token validation is handled by the underlying cluster. When OpenID implicit flow is used with RBAC turned off, this token validation doesn't occur, and this allows a malicious user to bypass the authentication.
- Record
EUVD-2021-1325- Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-ggjr-2f7v-vhq4
Kiali Authentication Bypass vulnerability
An authentication bypass vulnerability was found in Kiali in versions before 1.31.0 when the authentication strategy OpenID is used. When RBAC is enabled, Kiali assumes that some of the token validation is handled by the underlying cluster. When OpenID implicit flow is used with RBAC turned off, this token validation doesn't occur, and this allows a malicious user to bypass the authentication.
- Record
GHSA-ggjr-2f7v-vhq4- CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-287, CWE-290
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
An authentication bypass vulnerability was found in Kiali in versions before 1.31.0 when the authentication strategy OpenID is used. When RBAC is enabled, Kiali assumes that some of the token validation is handled by the underlying cluster. When OpenID implicit flow is used with RBAC turned off, this token validation doesn't occur, and this allows a malicious user to bypass the authentication.
- Record
CVE-2021-20278- CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-ggjr-2f7v-vhq4
Kiali Authentication Bypass vulnerability
An authentication bypass vulnerability was found in Kiali in versions before 1.31.0 when the authentication strategy OpenID is used. When RBAC is enabled, Kiali assumes that some of the token validation is handled by the underlying cluster. When OpenID implicit flow is used with RBAC turned off, this token validation doesn't occur, and this allows a malicious user to bypass the authentication.
- Record
GHSA-ggjr-2f7v-vhq4- CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-287, CWE-290
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVGO-2022-0700 No score
Kiali Authentication Bypass vulnerability in github.com/kiali/kiali
Kiali Authentication Bypass vulnerability in github.com/kiali/kiali
- Record
GO-2022-0700- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
github.com/kiali/kialiGo |
before 1.31.0 | 1.31.0 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases, products | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2021-20278 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 6.5) in Kiali, published May 28, 2021. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.76%, the 55th percentile. Fixed in github.com/kiali/kiali 1.31.0.