CVE-2024-42486 | Cilium vulnerable to information leakage via incorrect ReferenceGrant update logic in Gateway API

Cilium is a networking, observability, and security solution with an eBPF-based dataplane. In versions on the 1.15.x branch prior to 1.15.8 and the 1.16.x branch prior to 1.16.1, ReferenceGrant changes are not correctly propagated in Cilium's GatewayAPI controller, which could lead to Gateway resources being able to access secrets for longer than intended, or to Routes having the ability to forward traffic to backends in other namespaces for longer than intended. This issue has been patched in Cilium v1.15.8 and v1.16.1. As a workaround, any modification of a related Gateway/HTTPRoute/GRPCRoute/TCPRoute CRD (for example, adding any label to any of these resources) will trigger a reconciliation of ReferenceGrants on an affected cluster.

Published: 2024-08-16 Last update: 2025-09-03 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2024-42486 is rated Low Risk (38.1/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.24%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2024-42486

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-03-25 0.30% 0.24% -0.06%
2 2026-01-05 0.16% 0.30% +0.14%
3 2025-09-24 — 0.16% —

Full EPSS history (8 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2024-42486

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.4 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 2.2 2.7 [email protected]
7.2 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 3.9 2.7 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2024-42486

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2024-42486

GHSA-vwf8-q6fw-4wcm · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: go — Cilium leaks information via incorrect ReferenceGrant update logic in Gateway API

OS Trackers for CVE-2024-42486

vendor priority summary link
suse medium — https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2024-42486/

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2024-42486

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
cilium cilium >= 1.15.0, <= 1.15.8 cpe:2.3:a:cilium:cilium:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cilium cilium 1.16.0 cpe:2.3:a:cilium:cilium:1.16.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2024-42486

cvelogic Threat Intelligence