リリース

Kyverno 1.18 hardens HTTP context security with blocklist enforcement and scoped tokens, fixes multiple image verification bugs including a silent bypass, and expands CLI policy testing coverage.

• securityAudit HTTP context policies before upgrading — blocklist is now enforced

  Any policy using HTTP context loading will now be subject to a configurable blocklist. Calls that previously succeeded might be blocked after upgrade. Before rolling out 1.18, inventory all policies with HTTP context entries, verify their target URLs are not on the default blocklist, and configure FLAG_HTTP_BLOCKLIST overrides where needed. Also check that scoped token authorization doesn't break policies relying on broader token access. Test in a non-production cluster first.

• securityImage verification silent bypass is patched — verify your policies are actually enforcing

  A bug in processResourceWithPatches caused it to return nil on patch failure, which silently skipped image verification. If you've been running image verification policies and assumed they were enforcing, run a retroactive compliance scan after upgrading to confirm enforcement was working as expected. Also check the CVE fixes: CVE-2026-32280 (intermediate cert limiting) and CVE-2026-32283 (Go toolchain upgrade) are included in this release and warrant upgrading promptly.

• enhancementUse successEventActions to reduce event spam in large clusters

  High-traffic clusters with broad Kyverno policies generate enormous volumes of success events, which can overwhelm etcd and make event streams useless. The new successEventActions ConfigMap parameter lets you filter exactly which success events get emitted. Add this to your Kyverno ConfigMap after upgrading and tune it based on which policy actions actually need visibility. Pairs well with the existing omitEvents setting — watch out for the new warning if you configure conflicting values.

v1.16.4 is a security-focused patch release addressing 15+ CVEs across Kyverno's dependency chain, plus a critical behavioral change that disables HTTP in namespaced policies by default.

• securityUpgrade immediately — 15+ CVEs patched, including supply chain components

  This release patches CVEs across sigstore/rekor, go-tuf, docker/cli, Go stdlib, and Kyverno's own code. Several of these touch the image verification and policy fetch paths. If you're running any image signing workflows with Kyverno, the rekor and go-tuf bumps are directly relevant. Plan an upgrade in your next maintenance window — do not wait for the next major cycle.

• breakingHTTP disabled by default in namespaced policies (CVE-2026-4789) — test before upgrading

  Namespaced policies that fetch external data over plain HTTP will silently stop working after this upgrade. If you use URL context sources or external data fetches in namespaced ClusterPolicy or Policy resources, audit them for HTTP (non-HTTPS) endpoints before upgrading. This is a security hardening change, but it will break existing policies that relied on insecure endpoints. Switch those endpoints to HTTPS or migrate to HTTPS-capable data sources first.

• breakingRestricted ConfigMap access for namespaced policies — RBAC may need review

  Namespaced policies now have reduced ConfigMap access scope. If your policies rely on reading ConfigMaps outside their namespace for context or configuration, those reads will fail post-upgrade. Review your policy definitions for cross-namespace ConfigMap references and adjust either the policy logic or the access grants accordingly before rolling out this version.

v1.17.2 is a security-heavy patch release addressing multiple CVEs and fixing critical bugs in MutatingPolicy, ValidatingPolicy, webhook reconciliation, and namespaced policy handling.

• securityUpgrade immediately — 6+ CVEs fixed in this release

  This release patches at least six CVEs across dependencies and Go stdlib, plus CVE-2026-4789 which disables HTTP in namespaced policies by default. If you run namespaced policies that rely on HTTP-based external data sources or webhooks, audit those configurations before upgrading — they will stop working silently. Upgrade path: update your Helm chart or manifests to v1.17.2 and validate policy behavior in a staging environment first.

• breakingNamespaced policies: HTTP disabled and ConfigMap access restricted

  Two separate hardening changes affect namespaced policies. HTTP is now disabled by default (CVE-2026-4789), and ConfigMap access has been scoped down. If your namespaced policies fetch context from HTTP endpoints or read ConfigMaps outside their namespace, those policies will fail silently or error post-upgrade. Run a dry-run or audit scan against your namespaced policies before deploying to production.

• enhancementWebhook reconciliation loop fix — reduces controller churn in large clusters

  Inconsistent webhook rule ordering was causing repeated reconciliation loops, which generates excess API server load and noisy controller logs. This is fixed. If you've been seeing constant webhook object churn in your audit logs or elevated kyverno-controller CPU, this release resolves it. No action needed post-upgrade, but worth monitoring controller metrics after rollout to confirm stabilization.

Kyverno v1.17.1 is a focused patch release fixing a CVE, multiple crash/panic conditions, race conditions, and image verification bugs that could silently misbehave in production.

• securityPatch CVE-2025-68121 now

  CVE-2025-68121 is fixed in this release. Details on scope are limited in the notes, but any CVE fix in an admission controller warrants immediate attention. If you're on v1.17.0, upgrade to v1.17.1 before doing anything else. Don't wait for your next maintenance window.

• breakingVerify your policy exclusion rules if you use empty lists

  A bug was fixed where an empty list in a policy exclusion would silently exclude ALL resources instead of none. If you have any ClusterPolicy or Policy with exclusion blocks, audit them now. If you were unknowingly relying on empty-list-as-exclude-all behavior (unlikely but possible), your policies will now behave correctly — meaning resources that were previously skipped will now be evaluated.

• enhancementImage verification with TSA and private registries is now reliable

  Two separate ivpol fixes land here: signed timestamp verification is now correctly enabled when a TSACertChain is provided, and private registry secrets in the Kyverno namespace are now used during background report scanning. If you've been seeing unexpected verification failures in background scans or with TSA-based signature policies, upgrade and re-run your report scans to get accurate results.