CVE-2026-120091
HighCVSS 8.7Summary
Temporal Server includes a Worker Controller Instance module (go.temporal.io/auto-scaled-workers) that registers a 'k8s' compute provider which builds its Kubernetes client from the caller's request configuration rather than operator configuration. An authenticated caller with only read access in a single namespace can invoke ValidateWorkerDeploymentVersionComputeConfig, leading to arbitrary command execution on the Worker Service host under the server process account. Since the process holds persistence credentials for all namespaces and cluster TLS material, the impact extends beyond the caller's namespace to the entire cluster.
Risk Assessment
The vulnerability enables privilege escalation and arbitrary command execution on the Worker Service host, potentially leading to full Kubernetes cluster compromise and access to data across all namespaces. In versions 1.31.0 through 1.31.2, the default configuration is exposed when the compute provider allowlist is unset.
Recommendation
Upgrade Temporal Server to version 1.31.3 or later (or 1.32.0 or later) and ensure that workercontroller.compute_providers.enabled does not include 'k8s' (and in 1.31.0–1.31.2 is explicitly set). Also verify that any custom authorizer does not permit ValidateWorkerDeploymentVersionComputeConfig for callers without namespace write access.
Other vulnerabilities in Temporal Server
See all- CVE-2026-89140Medium
Temporal Server does not bind internal completion callbacks to the namespace that attached them, which allows an authenticated caller with write permission in one namespace to alter Scheduler V2 schedule state in another namespace. The callback address temporal://internal is reserved for callbacks that Scheduler V2 attaches to the Workflows it starts. In affected releases, any authenticated caller could attach a callback with that address to a Workflow start request, the address was exempt from the component.callbacks.allowedAddresses allowlist, and the History service delivered the callback to the component its token named, in whatever namespace that was, without authorizing the original caller there. When the forged completion matches an action a target schedule is running, the schedule records the action as completed while its Workflow still runs, which can defeat an overlap policy such as SKIP, and passes caller-controlled data to the next scheduled Workflow as its last completion result. A forged failure may also pause a schedule configured to pause on failure. A forgery requires the target namespace identifier, the schedule identifier, and the identity and timing of a running action. No disclosure of Workflow payloads or history was identified. Only namespaces that hold Scheduler V2 schedules can be targeted; Scheduler V2 is off by default, and existing Scheduler V2 schedules remain targets after the settings that create them are turned off.
- CVE-2026-104355High
A vulnerability in Temporal Server allows a connected peer cluster to modify local namespaces in the receiving cluster, which should not be replicated. The receiving cluster does not check if the namespace is global and overwrites its state, description, owner, retention, archival settings, cluster list, and active cluster if the task carries a higher failover version. An attacker controlling a registered peer's replies can change any local namespace without credentials on the receiving cluster, e.g., marking it Deprecated, causing new Workflow starts to fail.
- CVE-2026-89139High
Temporal Server vulnerability allows an authenticated user with write access to a single namespace to execute arbitrary commands on the host running the Worker Service. The command is executed immediately, and since the Worker Service process holds credentials and TLS material for the entire cluster, the impact escalates to full cluster compromise. Affected versions are 1.31.0 through 1.31.2 (before 1.31.3), and the issue is present in default binaries and container images.
- CVE-2026-87858High
Temporal Server in releases 1.30.0 and later decided whether a Workflow completion callback was internal by reading a caller-supplied HTTP header. An authenticated caller with write permission in a single namespace could attach a callback whose 'source' header caused the request to be re-targeted at the internal frontend and executed as a system administrator against the administrative API. Releases 1.25.0 through 1.29.7 are affected by a narrower form of the same defect requiring the header to match a configured cluster ID.
- CVE-2026-16652High
Temporal Server did not bound the work performed while searching for a Schedule's next action time. An authenticated caller with namespace write permission could create or update a Schedule combining a fine-grained cadence with an exclusion calendar that rejects every candidate time, causing excessive CPU consumption in Frontend and Schedule worker components.
- CVE-2026-5724Medium
The frontend gRPC server's streaming interceptor chain did not include the authorization interceptor. Configured ClaimMapper and Authorizer were bypassed for the AdminService/StreamWorkflowReplicationMessages endpoint, allowing unauthenticated access.
- CVE-2023-3485Low
Insecure defaults in open-source Temporal Server before version 1.20 on all platforms allow an attacker to craft a task token with access to a namespace other than the one specified in the request. This requires the namespace UUID and information from the workflow history for the target namespace.
Original NVD description (English source)
Temporal Server compiles a Worker Controller Instance module, go.temporal.io/auto-scaled-workers, into its Worker Service, and that module registers a compute provider named k8s whose function is to manage workers running in a Kubernetes cluster. The k8s provider built its Kubernetes client from the client configuration supplied in the caller's request rather than from operator configuration, and building and using that client could run a command of the caller's choosing on the Worker Service host, under the account the server process runs as. Two frontend operations reach the provider. CreateWorkerDeploymentVersion requires a namespace write role. ValidateWorkerDeploymentVersionComputeConfig is registered as a read-only namespace operation, so an authenticated caller holding only a read role in a single namespace can reach the provider through it, and that route does not require a worker deployment to already exist. Execution happens while the submitted configuration is validated, so no scaling decision, task arrival, or unusual request sequence is required. Because the Worker Service process holds the persistence credentials for every namespace in the cluster and the cluster's TLS material, the consequence reaches beyond the caller's namespace to the cluster as a whole. The provider is present in the official temporal-server binaries and container images for the affected releases. The control that keeps it unreachable is the compute provider allowlist, the dynamic configuration setting workercontroller.compute_providers.enabled. On Temporal Server 1.31.0 through 1.31.2 that allowlist does not deny by default: when the setting is unset the check is skipped and every registered compute provider is permitted, k8s included, so a stock deployment of those releases is exposed. On 1.31.3 and later 1.31 releases, and on 1.32.0 and later 1.32 releases, the allowlist denies by default, and a deployment is exposed only where k8s has been added to it. The 1.30 release line does not include the Worker Controller Instance module and is unaffected. To determine whether a deployment is affected, check the following together. The deployed Temporal Server version is in an affected range. The Worker Service is running, which it is in the default service set and therefore in a stock deployment. The effective value of workercontroller.compute_providers.enabled contains k8s, or, on 1.31.0 through 1.31.2 only, is unset; check both the global value and every namespace-constrained override, because an override can add k8s for a single namespace. And authorization is configured, meaning a real authorizer and claim mapper are in place; a deployment running with no authorizer already grants every caller unrestricted access to every namespace, so it has no namespace boundary for this to cross. Deployments that use a custom authorizer should also check whether it permits ValidateWorkerDeploymentVersionComputeConfig to callers without namespace write access. The separate per-namespace dynamic configuration setting workercontroller.enabled does not gate the affected path on any affected release.
Vulnerability data from NVD (NIST) · CISA KEV · EPSS

