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major vulnerability· requires attention

Affects widely used AWS EKS networking component; bypasses network isolation enabling lateral movement across many cloud deployments.

Cloud

CVE-2026-86831

8.7
High
EPSS n/aPatch availableSep 18, 2026

EKS Network Policy Agent ID-collision allows NetworkPolicy bypass

common questions

Is CVE-2026-86831 being exploited?

Not confirmed. CVE-2026-86831 does not appear in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which records only exploitation that has been observed and reported publicly. That is evidence of absence of a report, not evidence the flaw is unattacked.

How severe is CVE-2026-86831?

CVE-2026-86831 is rated High with a CVSS score of 8.7. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.

Is there a patch for CVE-2026-86831?

Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2026-86831. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.

What does CVE-2026-86831 affect?

CVE-2026-86831 affects aws-network-policy-agent < 1.4.0, amazon-vpc-cni-k8s (Managed Add-on) < 1.22.4, Amazon EKS clusters using AWS VPC CNI and Network Policy Agent. Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.

What should I do about CVE-2026-86831?

Upgrade aws-network-policy-agent to >=1.4.0 or amazon-vpc-cni-k8s to >=1.22.4

Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.

executive summary
technical analysis
affected
aws-network-policy-agent < 1.4.0amazon-vpc-cni-k8s (Managed Add-on) < 1.22.4Amazon EKS clusters using AWS VPC CNI and Network Policy Agent
impact

Authenticated attacker can craft pod/namespace names to cause ID collisions, bypass NetworkPolicy and access co-located pods cross-namespace.

action required

Immediate action required

affected versions
AWS amazon-vpc-cni-k8s
  • affected>= 1.14.0 and < 1.22.4
AWS aws-network-policy-agent
  • affected< 1.4.0

As published in the CVE Program record. A version outside these ranges is not a statement that it is unaffected — vendors sometimes understate a range, and distribution-backported builds carry upstream numbers that do not reflect what was patched into them.

how to fix
Remediation steps are tailored for users whose stack is affected. Add this technology to your stack to see the fix checklist.
references
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