This report shows a scope-widening issue in the rotate (re-encrypt) flow: the output scope can be derived from untrusted spec.template.metadata.annotations on the input sealed secret.
If a victim sealed secret is strict- or namespace-scoped, an attacker who can submit it to the rotate endpoint can set sealedsecrets.bitnami.com/cluster-wide=true in the template metadata and receive a rotated sealed secret that is cluster-wide, enabling retargeting (metadata.name/metadata.namespace) and unsealing to recover the victim plaintext.
Relevant Links (Pinned)
Root Cause
The rotate flow unseals the input sealed secret to a Secret, then reseals using NewSealedSecret(..., secret).
Because SecretScope(secret) is computed from secret annotations, and unsealing applies spec.template metadata onto the unsealed secret, an attacker can influence the scope of the rotated output by mutating template annotations on the rotate input.
Attack Path
- Attacker obtains a victim
SealedSecret object (for example via read access to resources or logs) and can submit it to the controller rotate endpoint.
- Attacker sets
spec.template.metadata.annotations.sealedsecrets.bitnami.com/cluster-wide=true (and optionally retargets name/namespace fields).
- Rotate returns a resealed, cluster-wide sealed secret that is no longer bound to the victim name/namespace.
- Attacker unseals the rotated output in their chosen namespace/name to recover the victim plaintext.
Proof of Concept
Setup + run:
unzip poc.zip -d poc
cd poc
make test
Canonical output (excerpt):
[CALLSITE_HIT]: pkg/apis/sealedsecrets/v1alpha1/sealedsecret_expansion.go:112 SecretScope
[PROOF_MARKER]: scope_widened=true rotated_scope=cluster-wide
Control output (excerpt):
[NC_MARKER]: scope_widened=false strict_scope_preserved=true
Fix Accepted When
Rotate preserves the original sealing scope and does not allow scope widening based on untrusted template metadata; strict or namespace-wide inputs cannot produce cluster-wide outputs.
poc.zip
PR_DESCRIPTION.md
attack_scenario.md
References
1seal Reporter
This report shows a scope-widening issue in the rotate (re-encrypt) flow: the output scope can be derived from untrusted
spec.template.metadata.annotationson the input sealed secret.If a victim sealed secret is strict- or namespace-scoped, an attacker who can submit it to the rotate endpoint can set
sealedsecrets.bitnami.com/cluster-wide=truein the template metadata and receive a rotated sealed secret that is cluster-wide, enabling retargeting (metadata.name/metadata.namespace) and unsealing to recover the victim plaintext.Relevant Links (Pinned)
NewSealedSecret(..., secret)after unsealing: https://github.com/bitnami-labs/sealed-secrets/blob/946bc048f3407117c837da6e4300686522d4c4eb/pkg/controller/controller.go#L560-L606SecretScope): https://github.com/bitnami-labs/sealed-secrets/blob/946bc048f3407117c837da6e4300686522d4c4eb/pkg/apis/sealedsecrets/v1alpha1/sealedsecret_expansion.go#L112-L122Root Cause
The rotate flow unseals the input sealed secret to a
Secret, then reseals usingNewSealedSecret(..., secret).Because
SecretScope(secret)is computed from secret annotations, and unsealing appliesspec.templatemetadata onto the unsealed secret, an attacker can influence the scope of the rotated output by mutating template annotations on the rotate input.Attack Path
SealedSecretobject (for example via read access to resources or logs) and can submit it to the controller rotate endpoint.spec.template.metadata.annotations.sealedsecrets.bitnami.com/cluster-wide=true(and optionally retargets name/namespace fields).Proof of Concept
Setup + run:
Canonical output (excerpt):
Control output (excerpt):
Fix Accepted When
Rotate preserves the original sealing scope and does not allow scope widening based on untrusted template metadata; strict or namespace-wide inputs cannot produce cluster-wide outputs.
poc.zip
PR_DESCRIPTION.md
attack_scenario.md
References