Description
Kestra is an open-source, event-driven orchestration platform. Prior to 1.0.45 and 1.3.21, the authentication filter for the REST API (@Filter("/api/v1/**")) treats any request whose path ends in /configs as the public instance-config endpoint and forwards it without a credential check. kestra addresses its resources by URL path segments that the caller chooses (/api/v1/{tenant}/flows/{namespace}, /api/v1/{tenant}/executions/{namespace}/{id}, /api/v1/{tenant}/namespaces/{namespace}/kv/{key}). An anonymous caller picks the literal configs as the final segment, and the request bypasses Basic-Auth entirely. Because the bypass reaches the flow-create and execution-trigger routes, an unauthenticated caller creates a flow containing a Shell or Process task and runs it. The task executes as root inside the kestra container. The official docker-compose.yml mounts /var/run/docker.sock, so root in the container reaches the host Docker daemon. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.0.45 and 1.3.21.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| kestra-io | kestra | < 1.0.45, >= 1.1.0, < 1.3.21 | — |
Public exploits
Exploit or proof-of-concept code for this vulnerability is publicly available, which lowers the bar for attackers. Treat it as a reason to patch sooner.
GitHub 3 repositories
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emitsco768/Vulnerability-lab-cve-2026-53576 ★ 0 · Oct 27, 2026
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AtlasVector/Kestra-cve-2026-53576 ★ 0 · Sep 25, 2026
End-to-end reproduction and cross-layer detection of CVE-2026-53576, the unauthenticated RCE in Kestra - taken past the base PoC to show how a common Docker-socket misconfiguration turns container-ro…
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TamatahYT/CVE-2026-53576 ★ 0 · Aug 1, 2026
Kestra Unauthenticated RCE Exploit (CVE-2026-53576)
Sources: PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit Framework, Exploit-DB — updated daily. Only links are listed; no exploit code is hosted here.
Automated scanner template
A ready-made Nuclei template detects this vulnerability automatically. Vulnerabilities with public scanner templates are typically probed across the internet soon after the template appears — exposed systems should be patched first.
- Kestra <= 1.3.20 - Remote Code Execution http/cves/2026/CVE-2026-53576.yaml
Source: projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates (MIT) — updated daily. Only links are listed.