Critical

Privilege escalation via ArgoCD Custom Resources in OpenShift GitOps

IdentifiersCVE-2025-13888CWE-266· Incorrect Privilege Assignment

A privilege-escalation flaw in OpenShift GitOps where a namespace administrator can create crafted ArgoCD Custom Resources (CRs) that cause the system to grant elevated permissions in other namespaces, including privileged namespaces. With these cross-namespace elevated permissions, an authenticated attacker can create privileged workloads that can be scheduled onto master nodes, leading to effective root-level control of the entire OpenShift cluster.

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Successful exploitation enables cluster takeover: the attacker can escalate from namespace-admin scope to elevated permissions in privileged namespaces, create privileged workloads on master nodes, and obtain root-equivalent access across the cluster, compromising confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the OpenShift environment.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

Until patched, restrict who can create/modify ArgoCD Custom Resources (CRs) and reduce namespace-admin capabilities where OpenShift GitOps/ArgoCD CRDs are present. Apply stricter RBAC and/or admission controls to prevent untrusted users from creating ArgoCD CRs that could result in cross-namespace privilege grants, and monitor for suspicious creation of privileged workloads (especially those targeting master nodes).

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Upgrade OpenShift GitOps / the Red Hat gitops-operator package to a fixed release (noted in the provided advisory as 1.16.2 or later). Follow Red Hat advisories (e.g., RHSA-2025:23203) for the exact patched versions applicable to your deployment.

PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

No public exploits tracked yet. Mallory keeps watching.

VALID 0 / 0 TOTALView more in app

No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.

ACTIVITY FEED

Recent activity

11 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.

11 SOURCESView more in app

security online infoNews

Dec 16, 2025

Critical OpenShift GitOps Flaw Risks Cluster Takeover (CVE-2025-13888) via Privilege Escalation to Root

A critical privilege escalation vulnerability in OpenShift GitOps that allows attackers to escalate privileges to root, risking full cluster takeover.

cvefeed high severityNews

Dec 15, 2025

CVE-2025-13888 - Openshift-gitops-operator: openshift gitops: namespace admin cluster takeover via privileged jobs

A critical privilege escalation vulnerability in OpenShift GitOps where namespace admins can abuse ArgoCD Custom Resources to gain root access to the entire cluster, including master nodes.

What this page doesn’t show

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Exposure mapping

Query your assets running an affected version, and investigate the blast radius.

Threat actor evidence

Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.

Associated malware

Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.

Detection signatures

YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.

Vendor-by-vendor mapping

Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.

Social activity9