Unknown · External Secrets Operator · CVE-2025-62159
**Name of the Vulnerable Software and Affected Versions**
External Secrets Operator versions 0.10.1 through 0.19.2
**Description**
The External Secrets Operator reads information from a third-party service and automatically injects the values as Kubernetes Secrets. A flaw exists in the BeyondTrust provider implementation where the provider previously retrieved Kubernetes secrets directly, without validating the namespace context or the type of secret store. This allowed unauthorized cross-namespace secret access, potentially exposing sensitive credentials. The issue was addressed in version 0.20.0 by using the `resolvers.SecretKeyRef` utility, which enforces namespace validation and restricts cross-namespace access to `ClusterSecretStore` types.
**Recommendations**
Upgrade to External Secrets Operator version 0.20.0 or later.
As a workaround, use a policy engine such as Kyverno or OPA to prevent using the BeyondTrust provider.
As a workaround, validate the `(Cluster)SecretStore` and ensure the namespace may only be set when using a `ClusterSecretStore`.