Velociraptor: Improper Handling of Insufficient Permissions or Privileges
CVE-2026-18860 is a high-severity improper handling of insufficient permissions or privileges vulnerability in Velociraptor from Rapid7, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.7 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an attacker with administrator privileges, without any action from a user. The record lists version 0.77.2 as the first without the flaw, so updating Velociraptor to that release or later removes the exposure. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.44% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.
What to do
- Update Velociraptor to 0.77.2 or a later version.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rapid7 | Velociraptor | before 0.77.2 | 0.77.2 |
Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.
How the severity score breaks down
- Attack vector
- NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
- Attack complexity
- LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
- Privileges required
- HighAdministrator-level access is required first.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Scope
- ChangedThe attack can reach beyond the vulnerable component into other systems.
- Confidentiality
- NoneNo data is disclosed.
- Integrity
- HighData or code can be modified at will.
- Availability
- HighThe component can be taken down completely.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:H. Scored by CNA (rapid7.com).
Official description
Velociraptor allows multi-tenant deployments named "Orgs". By default Velociraptor, uses the ROOT org, but users can create child orgs for other tenants within the same deployment. Users can have different permissions in each org. To manage Orgs, Velociraptor usually examines the ORG_ADMIN permission on the ROOT org. This issue results from the Velociraptor server allowing for the deletion of Orgs by incorrectly checking the ORG_ADMIN permission of callers within the calling ORG instead of the ROOT org. However, Org admins of child orgs were able to add this permission to their ACL token within their own org. This allows an administrator in a child org, which is not also an administrator in the ROOT org, to delete other orgs.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Improper Handling of Insufficient Permissions or Privileges
The product does not handle or incorrectly handles when it has insufficient privileges to access resources or functionality as specified by their permissions. This may cause it to follow unexpected code paths that may leave the product in an invalid state.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- Compartmentalize the system to have safe areas where trust boundaries can be unambiguously drawn. Do not allow sensitive data to go outside of the trust boundary and always be careful when interfacing with a compartment outside of the safe area. Ensure that appropriate compartmentalization is built into the system design, and the compartmentalization allows for and reinforces privilege separation functionality. Architects and designers should rely on the principle of least privilege to decide the appropriate time to use privileges and the time to drop privileges.
- Always check to see if you have successfully accessed a resource or system functionality, and use proper error handling if it is unsuccessful. Do this even when you are operating in a highly privileged mode, because errors or environmental conditions might still cause a failure. For example, environments with highly granular permissions/privilege models, such as Windows or Linux capabilities, can cause unexpected failures.
More Improper Handling of Insufficient Permissions or Privileges vulnerabilities (CWE-280)
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: partial).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Patches and release notes
Other references
Other vulnerabilities in Velociraptor
- 9.9 Critical severity
- 7.7 High severity
- 9.9 Critical severity
- 8.9 High severity
- 8.1 High severity
- 8.2 High severity
Recent Improper Handling of Insufficient Permissions or Privileges vulnerabilities
- 7.8 High severity
- 7.8 High severity
- 9.4 Critical severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.3 High severity
- 8.8 High severity
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