A set of five critical security vulnerabilities in the Ingress NGINX Controller for Kubernetes has been disclosed, potentially allowing unauthenticated remote code execution (RCE). Security researchers warn that over 6,500 Kubernetes clusters are at immediate risk if their Ingress NGINX Controller is exposed to the public internet.
Vulnerability Details and Severity
The vulnerabilities—CVE-2025-24513, CVE-2025-24514, CVE-2025-1097, CVE-2025-1098, and CVE-2025-1974—have been collectively named IngressNightmare by cloud security firm Wiz. Each has been assigned a CVSS score of 9.8, making them among the most severe Kubernetes-related security flaws in recent history.
It is important to note that these vulnerabilities do not impact the NGINX Ingress Controller, a separate implementation used for NGINX and NGINX Plus. However, organizations using the Ingress NGINX Controller should immediately assess their exposure and take remedial action.
How Attackers Can Exploit These Vulnerabilities
The core issue lies within the admission controller component of the Ingress NGINX Controller. Exploiting these flaws enables attackers to gain unauthorized access to all secrets stored across all namespaces in the Kubernetes cluster. This could allow threat actors to escalate privileges, exfiltrate sensitive data, or completely take over an affected Kubernetes environment.
What SOC Teams Need to Know
Security operations center (SOC) teams must act swiftly to mitigate potential threats stemming from IngressNightmare. Immediate steps include identifying affected instances, ensuring that the Ingress NGINX Controller is not exposed to the public internet, and applying any available security patches. Continuous monitoring for suspicious activity, particularly unauthorized access attempts and privilege escalation behaviors, should be prioritized.
Organizations relying on Kubernetes should also conduct a thorough audit of role-based access control (RBAC) configurations and implement strict security policies to minimize the risk of lateral movement in case of a breach.
Recommended Mitigation Steps
- Check for exposure – Ensure that the Ingress NGINX Controller is not accessible from the public internet.
- Apply patches – Monitor vendor advisories and apply security updates as soon as they become available.
- Review access policies – Limit permissions to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive cluster resources.
- Enable logging and monitoring – Implement robust logging and threat detection mechanisms to identify potential exploitation attempts.
- Conduct security audits – Regularly review Kubernetes security configurations to identify and remediate misconfigurations.
Organizations that fail to address these vulnerabilities risk severe security breaches, including data theft and full cluster compromise. Immediate action is necessary to protect Kubernetes environments from exploitation.
How Can Netizen Help?
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