CVE-2022-39278

What it is

Istio is an open platform-independent service mesh that provides traffic management, policy enforcement, and telemetry collection. Prior to versions 1.15.2, 1.14.5, and 1.13.9, the Istio control plane, istiod, is vulnerable to a request processing error, allowing a malicious attacker that sends a specially crafted or oversized message which results in the control plane crashing when the Kubernetes validating or mutating webhook service is exposed publicly. This endpoint is served over TLS port 15017, but does not require any authentication from the attacker. For simple installations, Istiod is typically only reachable from within the cluster, limiting the blast radius. However, for some deployments, especially external istiod topologies, this port is exposed over the public internet. Versions 1.15.2, 1.14.5, and 1.13.9 contain patches for this issue. There are no effective workarounds, beyond upgrading. This bug is due to an error in `regexp.Compile` in Go.

At a glance

Exploitability

Can be exploited over the network without logging in. High risk of service disruption.

Exploit odds

1.4% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS).

Fix

A patch, advisory or fixed version is referenced. Upgrade or apply it.

Timeline

1. 2022-10-13 23:15 UTC PublishedDisclosed publicly on CVE.org and NVD
2. 2026-06-17 04:58 UTC Last updatedMost recent change to the record

Why it ranks here

• Exploited in the wild: no, CISA does not list it.
• Exploit odds: 1.4% in the next 30 days (EPSS).
• Severity: 7.5 HIGH (CVSS).
• Fix: a patch or advisory is linked.

Details

Published

2022-10-13 23:15 UTC

Last modified

2026-06-17 04:58 UTC

Exploit probability

1.4% · EPSS, next 30 days

Weakness

CWE-400 · Uncontrolled resource consumption

Record status

Modified

Affected

• Istio < 1.13.9
• Istio < 1.14.5
• Istio < 1.15.2

Attack profile CVSS 3.1 · 7.5

Attack vector

Network

Complexity

Low

Privileges needed

None

User interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

None

Integrity

None

Availability

High

Is it in your code?

Hand this to your coding agent. It searches your project for the affected products and checks versions. Nothing leaves your machine.

Read https://cve-list.com/agent/cve/CVE-2022-39278.md and follow it. Check whether this project is affected by CVE-2022-39278. Read only. Don't change anything and don't upload my code. Tell me yes, no or not sure, with the file as proof.

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