---
id: "CVE-2026-26287"
kind: "vulnerability"
aliases: ["CVE-2026-26287", "GHSA-q7hv-xx6h-q2x8", "GO-2026-6667"]
title: "External Secrets Operator: label enforcement bypass in webhook generator enables secret exfiltration in github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets"
severity: "high"
cvss: 7.1
epss: 0.00244
exploited: false
status: "open"
category: "package"
products: [{"name": "github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets", "fixed": ["1.3.2"], "affected": ">= 0.10.0, < 1.3.2", "ecosystem": "go"}]
ecosystems: ["go"]
tags: ["external-secrets", "go", "kubernetes", "package", "self-hosted"]
not_affected_if: ["version-1.3.2-or-later", "webhook-generator-unused"]
published_at: "2026-10-06T16:17:07+00:00"
first_seen_at: "2026-10-23T19:13:08+00:00"
updated_at: "2026-10-23T19:56:21+00:00"
sources: [{"source": "govuln", "url": "https://pkg.go.dev/vuln/GO-2026-6667", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-23T19:13:08+00:00"}, {"source": "epss", "url": "https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2026-26287", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-23T19:13:43+00:00"}, {"source": "nvd", "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-26287", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-23T19:35:23+00:00"}]
---

# External Secrets Operator: label enforcement bypass in webhook generator enables secret exfiltration in github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets

External Secrets Operator's webhook generator cleared its label-enforcement flag during initialization, so the check requiring the external-secrets.io/type=webhook label was skipped. A user who can create or reference generator resources can therefore get secrets exfiltrated through the webhook path that should have been refused.

_Summary, check and fix written by a model from the sources; labelled as such._

## Affected

- go:github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets affected >= 0.10.0, < 1.3.2 fixed 1.3.2

## How to check

Run go list -m github.com/external-secrets/external-secrets in the module, or check the deployed controller image version with kubectl get deploy -A -o wide | grep external-secrets.

## Fix

Upgrade to external-secrets 1.3.2 or later.
Rotate any secrets fetched through the webhook generator if exposure is suspected.

## Timeline

- 2026-10-23T19:13:08+00:00 govuln https://pkg.go.dev/vuln/GO-2026-6667
- 2026-10-23T19:13:43+00:00 epss https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2026-26287
- 2026-10-23T19:35:23+00:00 nvd https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-26287

## From the sources

External Secrets Operator reads information from a third-party service and automatically injects the values as Kubernetes Secrets. Starting in version 0.10.0 and prior to version 1.3.2, a bug in the `webhook` generator initialization order incorrectly cleared the label-enforcement flag (`EnforceLabels`) after it was set, resulting in the provider-side check for `external-secrets.io/type=webhook` being skipped (and the operation to succeed while it should have failed with `secret does not contain needed label 'external-secrets.io/type: webhook'. Update secret label to use it with webhook`. Version 1.3.2 contains a patch.

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_Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai_