Fail issuance when certificate public key doesn't match CSR (#8380) by calm329 · Pull Request #8403 · cert-manager/cert-manager

calm329 · 2026-01-13T13:04:36Z

Pull Request Motivation

When an issuer returns a certificate with a public key that doesn't match the CSR (e.g., due to a buggy or misconfigured issuer), cert-manager would:

Store the mismatched certificate in the Secret
Detect the mismatch via SecretPublicKeysDiffer policy check
Immediately trigger re-issuance
Repeat indefinitely

This infinite loop can create millions of CertificateRequest resources and crash the Kubernetes control plane.

This PR adds validation in the issuing controller to check that the signed certificate's public key matches the CSR's public key before storing it. If they don't match, the issuance fails with backoff instead of storing the invalid certificate, preventing the runaway loop.

Kind

/kind bug

Release Note

Fixed an infinite re-issuance loop that could occur when an issuer returns a certificate with a public key that doesn't match the CSR. The issuing controller now validates the certificate before storing it and fails with backoff on mismatch.

Contribution by Gittensor, see my contribution statistics at https://gittensor.io/miners/details?githubId=148254234

cert-manager-prow · 2026-01-13T13:04:47Z

Hi @calm329. Thanks for your PR.

I'm waiting for a cert-manager member to verify that this patch is reasonable to test. If it is, they should reply with /ok-to-test on its own line. Until that is done, I will not automatically test new commits in this PR, but the usual testing commands by org members will still work. Regular contributors should join the org to skip this step.

Once the patch is verified, the new status will be reflected by the ok-to-test label.

I understand the commands that are listed here.

Details

Instructions for interacting with me using PR comments are available here. If you have questions or suggestions related to my behavior, please file an issue against the kubernetes-sigs/prow repository.

…ager#8380) Signed-off-by: calm329 <calmdev0329@gmail.com>

erikgb · 2026-01-13T13:10:52Z

/ok-to-test

erikgb · 2026-01-13T13:30:01Z

/cc @SgtCoDFish

inteon

The comment here says that we should be comparing public keys already

cert-manager/pkg/controller/certificates/issuing/issuing_controller.go

Lines 387 to 389 in af6739a

    
           // issueCertificate will ensure the public key of the CSR matches the signed 
        
           // certificate, and then store the certificate, CA and private key into the 
        
           // Secret in the appropriate format type.

:

Is this comment wrong? Or do we already have logic to compare public keys?

calm329 · 2026-01-14T12:46:11Z

The comment here says that we should be comparing public keys already

cert-manager/pkg/controller/certificates/issuing/issuing_controller.go

Lines 387 to 389 in af6739a

// issueCertificate will ensure the public key of the CSR matches the signed

// certificate, and then store the certificate, CA and private key into the

// Secret in the appropriate format type.

:
Is this comment wrong? Or do we already have logic to compare public keys?

Yeah, that comment is wrong, issueCertificate never actually validated public keys despite claiming to.

inteon · 2026-01-15T17:59:51Z

The comment here says that we should be comparing public keys already

cert-manager/pkg/controller/certificates/issuing/issuing_controller.go

Lines 387 to 389 in af6739a

// issueCertificate will ensure the public key of the CSR matches the signed

// certificate, and then store the certificate, CA and private key into the

// Secret in the appropriate format type.

:
Is this comment wrong? Or do we already have logic to compare public keys?

Yeah, that comment is wrong, issueCertificate never actually validated public keys despite claiming to.

Thanks for confirming, can we update that comment? Or move the validation logic inside that function?

Signed-off-by: calm329 <calmdev0329@gmail.com>

calm329 · 2026-01-15T18:12:00Z

Thanks for confirming, can we update that comment? Or move the validation logic inside that function?

Done

SgtCoDFish · 2026-01-16T14:38:07Z

/cherry-pick release-1.18

cert-manager-bot · 2026-01-16T14:38:10Z

@SgtCoDFish: once the present PR merges, I will cherry-pick it on top of release-1.18 in a new PR and assign it to you.

Details

In response to this:

/cherry-pick release-1.18

Instructions for interacting with me using PR comments are available here. If you have questions or suggestions related to my behavior, please file an issue against the kubernetes-sigs/prow repository.

SgtCoDFish · 2026-01-16T14:38:19Z

/cherry-pick release-1.19

cert-manager-bot · 2026-01-16T14:38:23Z

@SgtCoDFish: once the present PR merges, I will cherry-pick it on top of release-1.19 in a new PR and assign it to you.

Details

In response to this:

/cherry-pick release-1.19

Instructions for interacting with me using PR comments are available here. If you have questions or suggestions related to my behavior, please file an issue against the kubernetes-sigs/prow repository.

SgtCoDFish

/lgtm
/approve

I just spent a (crazy) amount of time building a custom issuer which always returns the "wrong" cert, just to ensure that this does what we'd expect... and I've confirmed that this does what we expect 😅

Thank you so much for this, it's a brilliant contribution!

cert-manager-prow · 2026-01-16T15:38:52Z

[APPROVALNOTIFIER] This PR is APPROVED

This pull-request has been approved by: SgtCoDFish

The full list of commands accepted by this bot can be found here.

The pull request process is described here

Details

Needs approval from an approver in each of these files:

~~OWNERS~~ [SgtCoDFish]

Approvers can indicate their approval by writing /approve in a comment
Approvers can cancel approval by writing /approve cancel in a comment

cert-manager-bot · 2026-01-16T15:53:22Z

@SgtCoDFish: new pull request created: #8414

Details

In response to this:

/cherry-pick release-1.18

Instructions for interacting with me using PR comments are available here. If you have questions or suggestions related to my behavior, please file an issue against the kubernetes-sigs/prow repository.

cert-manager-bot · 2026-01-16T15:53:59Z

@SgtCoDFish: new pull request created: #8415

Details

In response to this:

/cherry-pick release-1.19

Instructions for interacting with me using PR comments are available here. If you have questions or suggestions related to my behavior, please file an issue against the kubernetes-sigs/prow repository.

maelvls · 2026-01-23T15:18:53Z

pkg/controller/certificates/issuing/issuing_controller.go

-// issueCertificate will ensure the public key of the CSR matches the signed
-// certificate, and then store the certificate, CA and private key into the
-// Secret in the appropriate format type.


Post-merge comment: Wait... I've read this comment dozens of times in the past thinking "alright, all good"... but the code didn't actually do that? 😅

It checked that the CSR matched the key we'd stored, to guard against the key changing in-cluster - but I confirmed that it didn't check the returned cert correctly!

maelvls · 2026-01-23T15:19:50Z

pkg/controller/certificates/issuing/issuing_controller.go

+// issueCertificate stores the signed certificate, CA and private key into the
+// Secret in the appropriate format type. The caller must verify the certificate
+// public key matches the CSR before calling this function.
 func (c *controller) issueCertificate(ctx context.Context, nextRevision int, crt *cmapi.Certificate, req *cmapi.CertificateRequest, pk crypto.Signer) error {


Post-merge comment: The name of this func is misleading... It should be called copyIssuedCertToSecret 😅

wallrj-cyberark · 2026-02-03T14:12:25Z

📢 The fix or feature is now available for testing in an alpha release

https://github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager/releases/tag/v1.20.0-alpha.1

Please test and report back.

…#4581) This PR contains the following updates: | Package | Update | Change | |---|---|---| | [cert-manager/cert-manager](https://github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager) | minor | `v1.19.4` → `v1.20.0` | --- ### Release Notes <details> <summary>cert-manager/cert-manager (cert-manager/cert-manager)</summary> ### [`v1.20.0`](https://github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager/releases/tag/v1.20.0) [Compare Source](cert-manager/cert-manager@v1.19.4...v1.20.0) cert-manager is the easiest way to automatically manage certificates in Kubernetes and OpenShift clusters. v1.20.0 adds support for the new ListenerSet resource, adds support for Azure Private DNS; parentRefs are no longer required when using ACME with Gateway API, and OtherNames was promoted to Beta. #### Changes by Kind ##### Feature - Added a set of flags to permit setting NetworkPolicy across all deployed containers. Remove redundant global IP ranges from example policies. ([#8370](cert-manager/cert-manager#8370), [@jcpunk](https://github.com/jcpunk)) - Added selectable fields to custom resource definitions for .spec.issuerRef.{group, kind, name} ([#8256](cert-manager/cert-manager#8256), [@tareksha](https://github.com/tareksha)) - Added support for specifying `imagePullSecrets` in the `startupapicheck-job` Helm template to enable pulling images from private registries. ([#8186](cert-manager/cert-manager#8186), [@mathieu-clnk](https://github.com/mathieu-clnk)) - Added 'extraContainers' helm chart value, allowing the deployment of arbitrary sidecar containers within the cert-manager operator pod. This can be used to support, for e.g., AWS IAM Roles Anywhere for Route53 DNS01 verification. ([#8355](cert-manager/cert-manager#8355), [@dancmeyers](https://github.com/dancmeyers)) - Added `parentRef` override annotations on the Certificate resource. ([#8518](cert-manager/cert-manager#8518), [@hjoshi123](https://github.com/hjoshi123)) - Added support for azure private zones for dns01 issuer. ([#8494](cert-manager/cert-manager#8494), [@hjoshi123](https://github.com/hjoshi123)) - Added support for configuring PEM decoding size limits, allowing operators to handle larger certificates and keys. ([#7642](cert-manager/cert-manager#7642), [@robertlestak](https://github.com/robertlestak)) - Added support for unhealthyPodEvictionPolicy in PodDisruptionBudget ([#7728](cert-manager/cert-manager#7728), [@jcpunk](https://github.com/jcpunk)) - For Venafi provider, read `venafi.cert-manager.io/custom-fields` annotation on Issuer/ClusterIssuer and use it as base with override/append capabilities on Certificate level. ([#8301](cert-manager/cert-manager#8301), [@k0da](https://github.com/k0da)) - Improve error message when CA issuers are misconfigured to use a clashing secret name ([#8374](cert-manager/cert-manager#8374), [@majiayu000](https://github.com/majiayu000)) - Introduce a new Ingress annotation `acme.cert-manager.io/http01-ingress-ingressclassname` to override `http01.ingress.ingressClassName` field in HTTP-01 challenge solvers. ([#8244](cert-manager/cert-manager#8244), [@lunarwhite](https://github.com/lunarwhite)) - Update `global.nodeSelector` to helm chart to perform a `merge` and allow for a single `nodeSelector` to be set across all services. ([#8195](cert-manager/cert-manager#8195), [@StingRayZA](https://github.com/StingRayZA)) - Vault issuers will now include the Vault server address as one of the default audiences on generated service account tokens. ([#8228](cert-manager/cert-manager#8228), [@terinjokes](https://github.com/terinjokes)) - Added experimental `XListenerSet` feature gate ([#8394](cert-manager/cert-manager#8394), [@hjoshi123](https://github.com/hjoshi123)) ##### Documentation - Add GWAPI documentation to NOTES.TXT in helm chart ([#8353](cert-manager/cert-manager#8353), [@jaxels10](https://github.com/jaxels10)) ##### Bug or Regression - Adds logs for cases when acme server returns us a fatal error in the order controller ([#8199](cert-manager/cert-manager#8199), [@Peac36](https://github.com/Peac36)) - Fixed an issue where kind or group in the issuerRef of a Certificate was omitted, upgrading to 1.19.x incorrectly caused the certificate to be renewed ([#8160](cert-manager/cert-manager#8160), [@inteon](https://github.com/inteon)) - Changes to the Duration and RenewBefore annotations on ingress and gateway-api resources will now trigger certificate updates. ([#8232](cert-manager/cert-manager#8232), [@eleanor-merry](https://github.com/eleanor-merry)) - Fix an issue where ACME challenge TXT records are not cleaned up when there are many resource records in CloudDNS. ([#8456](cert-manager/cert-manager#8456), [@tkna](https://github.com/tkna)) - Fix unregulated retries with the DigitalOcean DNS-01 solver Add full detailed DNS-01 errors to the events attached to the Challenge, for easier debugging ([#8221](cert-manager/cert-manager#8221), [@wallrj-cyberark](https://github.com/wallrj-cyberark)) - Fixed an infinite re-issuance loop that could occur when an issuer returns a certificate with a public key that doesn't match the CSR. The issuing controller now validates the certificate before storing it and fails with backoff on mismatch. ([#8403](cert-manager/cert-manager#8403), [@calm329](https://github.com/calm329)) - Fixed an issue where HTTP-01 challenges failed when the Host header contains an IPv6 address. This means that users can now issue IP address certificates for IPv6 address subjects. ([#8424](cert-manager/cert-manager#8424), [@SlashNephy](https://github.com/SlashNephy)) - Fixed the HTTP-01 Gateway solver creating invalid HTTPRoutes by not setting spec.hostnames when the challenge DNSName is an IP address. ([#8443](cert-manager/cert-manager#8443), [@alviss7](https://github.com/alviss7)) - Revert API defaults for issuer reference kind and group introduced in 0.19.0 ([#8173](cert-manager/cert-manager#8173), [@erikgb](https://github.com/erikgb)) - Security (MODERATE): Fix a potential panic in the cert-manager controller when a DNS response in an unexpected order was cached. If an attacker was able to modify DNS responses (or if they controlled the DNS server) it was possible to cause denial of service for the cert-manager controller. ([#8469](cert-manager/cert-manager#8469), [@SgtCoDFish](https://github.com/SgtCoDFish)) - Update Go to `v1.25.5` to fix `CVE-2025-61727` and `CVE-2025-61729` ([#8290](cert-manager/cert-manager#8290), [@octo-sts](https://github.com/octo-sts)\[bot]) - When Prometheus monitoring is enabled, the metrics label is now set to the intended value of `cert-manager`. Previously, it was set depending on various factors (namespace cert-manager is installed in and/or Helm release name). ([#8162](cert-manager/cert-manager#8162), [@LiquidPL](https://github.com/LiquidPL)) ##### Other (Cleanup or Flake) - Promoted the OtherNames feature to Beta and enabled it by default ([#8288](cert-manager/cert-manager#8288), [@wallrj-cyberark](https://github.com/wallrj-cyberark)) - Promoting `xlistenerset` feature gate to `listenerset` ([#8501](cert-manager/cert-manager#8501), [@hjoshi123](https://github.com/hjoshi123)) - Rebranding of the Venafi Issuer to CyberArk ([#8215](cert-manager/cert-manager#8215), [@iossifbenbassat123](https://github.com/iossifbenbassat123)) - Switched to SSA for challenge finalizer updates ([#8519](cert-manager/cert-manager#8519), [@inteon](https://github.com/inteon)) - The default container user (UID) is now 65532 (previously 1000) and the default container group (GID) is now 65532 (previously 0) ([#8408](cert-manager/cert-manager#8408), [@wallrj-cyberark](https://github.com/wallrj-cyberark)) - The feature-gate DefaultPrivateKeyRotationPolicyAlways moved from Beta to GA and can no longer be disabled. ([#8287](cert-manager/cert-manager#8287), [@wallrj-cyberark](https://github.com/wallrj-cyberark)) - Update cert-manager's ACME client, forked from golang/x/crypto ([#8268](cert-manager/cert-manager#8268), [@SgtCoDFish](https://github.com/SgtCoDFish)) - Use the latest version of Kyverno (1.16.2) in the best-practice installation tests ([#8389](cert-manager/cert-manager#8389), [@wallrj-cyberark](https://github.com/wallrj-cyberark)) - We stopped testing with Coutour due to it not supporting the new XListenerSet resource, and moved to kgateway. ([#8426](cert-manager/cert-manager#8426), [@hjoshi123](https://github.com/hjoshi123)) </details> --- ### Configuration 📅 **Schedule**: Branch creation - At any time (no schedule defined), Automerge - At any time (no schedule defined). 🚦 **Automerge**: Disabled by config. Please merge this manually once you are satisfied. ♻ **Rebasing**: Whenever PR is behind base branch, or you tick the rebase/retry checkbox. 🔕 **Ignore**: Close this PR and you won't be reminded about this update again. --- - [ ] If you want to rebase/retry this PR, check this box --- This PR has been generated by [Renovate Bot](https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate).  Reviewed-on: https://gitea.alexlebens.dev/alexlebens/infrastructure/pulls/4581 Co-authored-by: Renovate Bot <renovate-bot@alexlebens.net> Co-committed-by: Renovate Bot <renovate-bot@alexlebens.net>

This PR contains the following updates: | Package | Update | Change | |---|---|---| | [cert-manager](https://cert-manager.io) ([source](https://github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager)) | minor | `v1.19.4` → `v1.20.0` | --- ### Release Notes <details> <summary>cert-manager/cert-manager (cert-manager)</summary> ### [`v1.20.0`](https://github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager/releases/tag/v1.20.0) [Compare Source](cert-manager/cert-manager@v1.19.4...v1.20.0) cert-manager is the easiest way to automatically manage certificates in Kubernetes and OpenShift clusters. v1.20.0 adds support for the new ListenerSet resource, adds support for Azure Private DNS; parentRefs are no longer required when using ACME with Gateway API, and OtherNames was promoted to Beta. #### Changes by Kind ##### Feature - Added a set of flags to permit setting NetworkPolicy across all deployed containers. Remove redundant global IP ranges from example policies. ([#8370](cert-manager/cert-manager#8370), [@jcpunk](https://github.com/jcpunk)) - Added selectable fields to custom resource definitions for .spec.issuerRef.{group, kind, name} ([#8256](cert-manager/cert-manager#8256), [@tareksha](https://github.com/tareksha)) - Added support for specifying `imagePullSecrets` in the `startupapicheck-job` Helm template to enable pulling images from private registries. ([#8186](cert-manager/cert-manager#8186), [@mathieu-clnk](https://github.com/mathieu-clnk)) - Added 'extraContainers' helm chart value, allowing the deployment of arbitrary sidecar containers within the cert-manager operator pod. This can be used to support, for e.g., AWS IAM Roles Anywhere for Route53 DNS01 verification. ([#8355](cert-manager/cert-manager#8355), [@dancmeyers](https://github.com/dancmeyers)) - Added `parentRef` override annotations on the Certificate resource. ([#8518](cert-manager/cert-manager#8518), [@hjoshi123](https://github.com/hjoshi123)) - Added support for azure private zones for dns01 issuer. ([#8494](cert-manager/cert-manager#8494), [@hjoshi123](https://github.com/hjoshi123)) - Added support for configuring PEM decoding size limits, allowing operators to handle larger certificates and keys. ([#7642](cert-manager/cert-manager#7642), [@robertlestak](https://github.com/robertlestak)) - Added support for unhealthyPodEvictionPolicy in PodDisruptionBudget ([#7728](cert-manager/cert-manager#7728), [@jcpunk](https://github.com/jcpunk)) - For Venafi provider, read `venafi.cert-manager.io/custom-fields` annotation on Issuer/ClusterIssuer and use it as base with override/append capabilities on Certificate level. ([#8301](cert-manager/cert-manager#8301), [@k0da](https://github.com/k0da)) - Improve error message when CA issuers are misconfigured to use a clashing secret name ([#8374](cert-manager/cert-manager#8374), [@majiayu000](https://github.com/majiayu000)) - Introduce a new Ingress annotation `acme.cert-manager.io/http01-ingress-ingressclassname` to override `http01.ingress.ingressClassName` field in HTTP-01 challenge solvers. ([#8244](cert-manager/cert-manager#8244), [@lunarwhite](https://github.com/lunarwhite)) - Update `global.nodeSelector` to helm chart to perform a `merge` and allow for a single `nodeSelector` to be set across all services. ([#8195](cert-manager/cert-manager#8195), [@StingRayZA](https://github.com/StingRayZA)) - Vault issuers will now include the Vault server address as one of the default audiences on generated service account tokens. ([#8228](cert-manager/cert-manager#8228), [@terinjokes](https://github.com/terinjokes)) - Added experimental `XListenerSet` feature gate ([#8394](cert-manager/cert-manager#8394), [@hjoshi123](https://github.com/hjoshi123)) ##### Documentation - Add GWAPI documentation to NOTES.TXT in helm chart ([#8353](cert-manager/cert-manager#8353), [@jaxels10](https://github.com/jaxels10)) ##### Bug or Regression - Adds logs for cases when acme server returns us a fatal error in the order controller ([#8199](cert-manager/cert-manager#8199), [@Peac36](https://github.com/Peac36)) - Fixed an issue where kind or group in the issuerRef of a Certificate was omitted, upgrading to 1.19.x incorrectly caused the certificate to be renewed ([#8160](cert-manager/cert-manager#8160), [@inteon](https://github.com/inteon)) - Changes to the Duration and RenewBefore annotations on ingress and gateway-api resources will now trigger certificate updates. ([#8232](cert-manager/cert-manager#8232), [@eleanor-merry](https://github.com/eleanor-merry)) - Fix an issue where ACME challenge TXT records are not cleaned up when there are many resource records in CloudDNS. ([#8456](cert-manager/cert-manager#8456), [@tkna](https://github.com/tkna)) - Fix unregulated retries with the DigitalOcean DNS-01 solver Add full detailed DNS-01 errors to the events attached to the Challenge, for easier debugging ([#8221](cert-manager/cert-manager#8221), [@wallrj-cyberark](https://github.com/wallrj-cyberark)) - Fixed an infinite re-issuance loop that could occur when an issuer returns a certificate with a public key that doesn't match the CSR. The issuing controller now validates the certificate before storing it and fails with backoff on mismatch. ([#8403](cert-manager/cert-manager#8403), [@calm329](https://github.com/calm329)) - Fixed an issue where HTTP-01 challenges failed when the Host header contains an IPv6 address. This means that users can now issue IP address certificates for IPv6 address subjects. ([#8424](cert-manager/cert-manager#8424), [@SlashNephy](https://github.com/SlashNephy)) - Fixed the HTTP-01 Gateway solver creating invalid HTTPRoutes by not setting spec.hostnames when the challenge DNSName is an IP address. ([#8443](cert-manager/cert-manager#8443), [@alviss7](https://github.com/alviss7)) - Revert API defaults for issuer reference kind and group introduced in 0.19.0 ([#8173](cert-manager/cert-manager#8173), [@erikgb](https://github.com/erikgb)) - Security (MODERATE): Fix a potential panic in the cert-manager controller when a DNS response in an unexpected order was cached. If an attacker was able to modify DNS responses (or if they controlled the DNS server) it was possible to cause denial of service for the cert-manager controller. ([#8469](cert-manager/cert-manager#8469), [@SgtCoDFish](https://github.com/SgtCoDFish)) - Update Go to `v1.25.5` to fix `CVE-2025-61727` and `CVE-2025-61729` ([#8290](cert-manager/cert-manager#8290), [@octo-sts](https://github.com/octo-sts)\[bot]) - When Prometheus monitoring is enabled, the metrics label is now set to the intended value of `cert-manager`. Previously, it was set depending on various factors (namespace cert-manager is installed in and/or Helm release name). ([#8162](cert-manager/cert-manager#8162), [@LiquidPL](https://github.com/LiquidPL)) ##### Other (Cleanup or Flake) - Promoted the OtherNames feature to Beta and enabled it by default ([#8288](cert-manager/cert-manager#8288), [@wallrj-cyberark](https://github.com/wallrj-cyberark)) - Promoting `xlistenerset` feature gate to `listenerset` ([#8501](cert-manager/cert-manager#8501), [@hjoshi123](https://github.com/hjoshi123)) - Rebranding of the Venafi Issuer to CyberArk ([#8215](cert-manager/cert-manager#8215), [@iossifbenbassat123](https://github.com/iossifbenbassat123)) - Switched to SSA for challenge finalizer updates ([#8519](cert-manager/cert-manager#8519), [@inteon](https://github.com/inteon)) - The default container user (UID) is now 65532 (previously 1000) and the default container group (GID) is now 65532 (previously 0) ([#8408](cert-manager/cert-manager#8408), [@wallrj-cyberark](https://github.com/wallrj-cyberark)) - The feature-gate DefaultPrivateKeyRotationPolicyAlways moved from Beta to GA and can no longer be disabled. ([#8287](cert-manager/cert-manager#8287), [@wallrj-cyberark](https://github.com/wallrj-cyberark)) - Update cert-manager's ACME client, forked from golang/x/crypto ([#8268](cert-manager/cert-manager#8268), [@SgtCoDFish](https://github.com/SgtCoDFish)) - Use the latest version of Kyverno (1.16.2) in the best-practice installation tests ([#8389](cert-manager/cert-manager#8389), [@wallrj-cyberark](https://github.com/wallrj-cyberark)) - We stopped testing with Coutour due to it not supporting the new XListenerSet resource, and moved to kgateway. ([#8426](cert-manager/cert-manager#8426), [@hjoshi123](https://github.com/hjoshi123)) </details> --- ### Configuration 📅 **Schedule**: Branch creation - At any time (no schedule defined), Automerge - At any time (no schedule defined). 🚦 **Automerge**: Disabled by config. Please merge this manually once you are satisfied. ♻ **Rebasing**: Whenever PR is behind base branch, or you tick the rebase/retry checkbox. 🔕 **Ignore**: Close this PR and you won't be reminded about this update again. --- - [ ] If you want to rebase/retry this PR, check this box --- This PR has been generated by [Renovate Bot](https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate).  Reviewed-on: https://gitea.alexlebens.dev/alexlebens/infrastructure/pulls/4582 Co-authored-by: Renovate Bot <renovate-bot@alexlebens.net> Co-committed-by: Renovate Bot <renovate-bot@alexlebens.net>

…d certificate Summary When an issuer such as Vault with `leaf_not_after_behavior=truncate` and an expired CA returns an already-expired leaf certificate, cert-manager would store it, detect it as expired via policy checks, and immediately re-issue — creating an infinite loop that can generate thousands of CertificateRequests in minutes. This adds a pre-storage expiry validation that fails with backoff instead, following the same pattern established in PR cert-manager#8403 for public key mismatch detection. Key changes - Added an expiry check in `issuing_controller.go` that rejects already-expired certificates before storing them, using `failIssueCertificate` to trigger backoff and prevent the loop - Added a test case in `issuing_controller_test.go` that verifies issuance fails with an `InvalidCertificate` reason when the issuer returns a certificate with `NotAfter` in the past

…d certificate Summary When an issuer such as Vault with `leaf_not_after_behavior=truncate` and an expired CA returns an already-expired leaf certificate, cert-manager would store it, detect it as expired via policy checks, and immediately re-issue — creating an infinite loop that can generate thousands of CertificateRequests in minutes. This adds a pre-storage expiry validation that fails with backoff instead, following the same pattern established in PR cert-manager#8403 for public key mismatch detection. Key changes - Added an expiry check in `issuing_controller.go` that rejects already-expired certificates before storing them, using `failIssueCertificate` to trigger backoff and prevent the loop - Added a test case in `issuing_controller_test.go` that verifies issuance fails with an `InvalidCertificate` reason when the issuer returns a certificate with `NotAfter` in the past Signed-off-by: Onur Micoogullari <onur@micosolutions.se>

cert-manager-prow bot added the size/M Denotes a PR that changes 30-99 lines, ignoring generated files. label Jan 13, 2026

Fail issuance when certificate public key doesn't match CSR (cert-man…

8d8cf46

…ager#8380) Signed-off-by: calm329 <calmdev0329@gmail.com>

calm329 force-pushed the fix/prevent-reissuance-loop-on-invalid-cert branch from 9da1110 to 8d8cf46 Compare January 13, 2026 13:07

cert-manager-prow bot added dco-signoff: yes Indicates that all commits in the pull request have the valid DCO sign-off message. and removed dco-signoff: no Indicates that at least one commit in this pull request is missing the DCO sign-off message. labels Jan 13, 2026

cert-manager-prow bot added ok-to-test and removed needs-ok-to-test Indicates a PR that requires an org member to verify it is safe to test. labels Jan 13, 2026

cert-manager-prow bot requested a review from SgtCoDFish January 13, 2026 13:30

inteon reviewed Jan 14, 2026

View reviewed changes

This was referenced Jan 15, 2026

Renovate: Use nonroot base image tag and run post-upgrade script #8411

Merged

chore(deps): update base images (master) #8410

Closed

cert-manager-prow bot added dco-signoff: no Indicates that at least one commit in this pull request is missing the DCO sign-off message. and removed dco-signoff: yes Indicates that all commits in the pull request have the valid DCO sign-off message. labels Jan 15, 2026

Fail issuance when certificate public key doesn't match CSR

0d4e762

Signed-off-by: calm329 <calmdev0329@gmail.com>

calm329 force-pushed the fix/prevent-reissuance-loop-on-invalid-cert branch from 4393cb4 to 0d4e762 Compare January 15, 2026 18:11

cert-manager-prow bot added dco-signoff: yes Indicates that all commits in the pull request have the valid DCO sign-off message. and removed dco-signoff: no Indicates that at least one commit in this pull request is missing the DCO sign-off message. labels Jan 15, 2026

calm329 requested a review from inteon January 15, 2026 18:13

calm329 closed this Jan 15, 2026

SgtCoDFish reopened this Jan 16, 2026

SgtCoDFish approved these changes Jan 16, 2026

View reviewed changes

cert-manager-prow bot added the lgtm Indicates that a PR is ready to be merged. label Jan 16, 2026

cert-manager-prow bot added the approved Indicates a PR has been approved by an approver from all required OWNERS files. label Jan 16, 2026

cert-manager-prow bot merged commit 9668922 into cert-manager:master Jan 16, 2026
6 checks passed

cert-manager-bot mentioned this pull request Jan 16, 2026

[release-1.18] Fail issuance when certificate public key doesn't match CSR (#8380) #8414

Merged

cert-manager-bot mentioned this pull request Jan 16, 2026

[release-1.19] Fail issuance when certificate public key doesn't match CSR (#8380) #8415

Merged

maelvls mentioned this pull request Jan 23, 2026

Certmanager attempts infinite renewals if the Issuer Certificate read from Vault has expired #7741

Open

maelvls reviewed Jan 23, 2026

View reviewed changes

t0klian mentioned this pull request Feb 16, 2026

v1.19.3: Internal keymanager race condition triggers InvalidCertificate backoff when using external issuers (Google CAS) #8514

Closed

onurmicoogullari mentioned this pull request Mar 13, 2026

Fixed infinite re-issuance loop when issuer returns an already expired certificate #8610

Open

2 tasks

github-actions bot mentioned this pull request Mar 30, 2026

Update Helm release cert-manager to v1.20.0 claytono/infra#1873

Merged

1 task

	// issueCertificate will ensure the public key of the CSR matches the signed
	// certificate, and then store the certificate, CA and private key into the
	// Secret in the appropriate format type.

Conversation

calm329 commented Jan 13, 2026

Pull Request Motivation

Kind

Release Note

Uh oh!

cert-manager-prow bot commented Jan 13, 2026

Uh oh!

erikgb commented Jan 13, 2026

Uh oh!

erikgb commented Jan 13, 2026

Uh oh!

inteon left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

calm329 commented Jan 14, 2026

Uh oh!

inteon commented Jan 15, 2026

Uh oh!

calm329 commented Jan 15, 2026

Uh oh!

SgtCoDFish commented Jan 16, 2026

Uh oh!

cert-manager-bot commented Jan 16, 2026

Uh oh!

SgtCoDFish commented Jan 16, 2026

Uh oh!

cert-manager-bot commented Jan 16, 2026

Uh oh!

SgtCoDFish left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

cert-manager-prow bot commented Jan 16, 2026

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

cert-manager-bot commented Jan 16, 2026

Uh oh!

cert-manager-bot commented Jan 16, 2026

Uh oh!

maelvls Jan 23, 2026 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

SgtCoDFish Jan 26, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

maelvls Jan 23, 2026 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Uh oh!

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

wallrj-cyberark commented Feb 3, 2026

Uh oh!

Reviewers

Assignees

Labels

Projects

Milestone

Development

Uh oh!

7 participants

maelvls Jan 23, 2026 •

edited

Loading

maelvls Jan 23, 2026 •

edited

Loading