etcd is a distributed key-value store for the data of a distributed system. Prior to versions 3.4.42, 3.5.28, and 3.6.9, unauthorized users may bypass authentication or authorization checks and call certain etcd functions in clusters that expose the gRPC API to untrusted or partially trusted clients. In unpatched etcd clusters with etcd auth enabled, unauthorized users are able to call MemberList and learn cluster topology, including member IDs and advertised endpoints; call Alarm, which can be abused for operational disruption or denial of service; use Lease APIs, interfering with TTL-based keys and lease ownership; and/or trigger compaction, permanently removing historical revisions and disrupting watch, audit, and recovery workflows. Kubernetes does not rely on etcd’s built-in authentication and authorization. Instead, the API server handles authentication and authorization itself, so typical Kubernetes deployments are not affected. Versions 3.4.42, 3.5.28, and 3.6.9 contain a patch. If upgrading is not immediately possible, reduce exposure by treating the affected RPCs as unauthenticated in practice. Restrict network access to etcd server ports so only trusted components can connect and/or require strong client identity at the transport layer, such as mTLS with tightly scoped client certificate distribution.

Project Subscriptions

No data.

Advisories
Source ID Title
Github GHSA Github GHSA GHSA-q8m4-xhhv-38mg etcd: Authorization bypasses in multiple APIs
Fixes

Solution

No solution given by the vendor.


Workaround

No workaround given by the vendor.

History

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 13:45:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description etcd is a distributed key-value store for the data of a distributed system. Prior to versions 3.4.42, 3.5.28, and 3.6.9, unauthorized users may bypass authentication or authorization checks and call certain etcd functions in clusters that expose the gRPC API to untrusted or partially trusted clients. In unpatched etcd clusters with etcd auth enabled, unauthorized users are able to call MemberList and learn cluster topology, including member IDs and advertised endpoints; call Alarm, which can be abused for operational disruption or denial of service; use Lease APIs, interfering with TTL-based keys and lease ownership; and/or trigger compaction, permanently removing historical revisions and disrupting watch, audit, and recovery workflows. Kubernetes does not rely on etcd’s built-in authentication and authorization. Instead, the API server handles authentication and authorization itself, so typical Kubernetes deployments are not affected. Versions 3.4.42, 3.5.28, and 3.6.9 contain a patch. If upgrading is not immediately possible, reduce exposure by treating the affected RPCs as unauthenticated in practice. Restrict network access to etcd server ports so only trusted components can connect and/or require strong client identity at the transport layer, such as mTLS with tightly scoped client certificate distribution.
Title etcd: Authorization bypasses in multiple APIs
Weaknesses CWE-862
References
Metrics cvssV4_0

{'score': 8.8, 'vector': 'CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N'}


Projects

Sign in to view the affected projects.

cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: GitHub_M

Published:

Updated: 2026-03-26T13:36:10.919Z

Reserved: 2026-03-19T17:02:34.171Z

Link: CVE-2026-33413

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Awaiting Analysis

Published: 2026-03-26T14:16:13.490

Modified: 2026-03-26T15:13:15.790

Link: CVE-2026-33413

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

No data.

Weaknesses