CVE-2026-122986: Microsoft Azure Kubernetes Service Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
CVE-2026-122986 is an elevation of privilege vulnerability in Microsoft Azure Kubernetes Service, rated Important by Microsoft, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.8 (High). An attacker can exploit it by an attacker with local access, with low privileges and without user interaction. Microsoft has not reported exploitation in the wild. Microsoft released the fix on 10 November 2026 in the November 2026 Patch Tuesday. It affects 1 product in 1 product family (Mariner).
Key facts
- CVE ID
- CVE-2026-122986
- Severity
- High CVSS 7.8
- Microsoft severity
- Important
- Impact
- Elevation of Privilege
- Exploited in the wild
- No
- Publicly disclosed
- No
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Released
- Last updated
- Patch Tuesday
- November 2026 Patch Tuesday
- Product families
- Mariner
CVSS score and vector
Microsoft scores CVE-2026-122986 at 7.8 (temporal 6.8) using CVSS 3.1. Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Attack vector | Local |
| Attack complexity | Low |
| Privileges required | Low |
| User interaction | None |
| Scope | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality impact | High |
| Integrity impact | High |
| Availability impact | High |
| Exploit code maturity | Unproven |
| Remediation level | Official fix |
| Report confidence | Confirmed |
Description
Improper privilege management in Microsoft Azure Kubernetes Service allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
Frequently asked questions (Microsoft)
What action do customers need to take to address this vulnerability?
Customers must upgrade the node images for affected Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) node pools to a node image containing the security update. Follow the instructions in Upgrade node images in Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) to check for available updates, perform a node-image-only upgrade without changing the Kubernetes version, and verify that the updated image is running on all affected nodes.
Affected products (1)
Mariner
| Product | Security update | Type | Fixed build | Restart |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| kernel-mshv-6.6.137.mshv2-2.azl3.x86_64 on Azure Linux 3.0 | Release Notes | Security Update | kernel-mshv-6.6.18.34.mshv3-2.azl3.x86_64 | No |
Acknowledgments
Revision history
| Version | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | Information published. |