appsmith: Exposed Dangerous Method or Function
CVE-2026-55454 is a critical-severity exposed dangerous method or function vulnerability in appsmith from Appsmithorg, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.9 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an attacker with a low-privileged account, without any action from a user. Affected appsmith versions: < 2.1. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.6% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
Critical severity: a successful attack would have severe impact.
What to do
- Check which version of appsmith you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.
- Read the advisory on github.com for workarounds and exact fixed builds.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appsmithorg | appsmith | < 2.1 | Not stated |
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
- LowA basic user account is enough.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Scope
- ChangedThe attack can reach beyond the vulnerable component into other systems.
- Confidentiality
- HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
- 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:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by CNA (github.com).
Official description
Appsmith is a platform to build admin panels, internal tools, and dashboards. Prior to 2.1, the bundled Caddy reverse-proxy's admin API — which has no authentication by default — is bound on 0.0.0.0:2019 inside the container. While this listener is not directly published to the host by docker-compose.yml, it is reachable from the Appsmith server process itself or a SSRF vulnerability. An authenticated low-privileged user can therefore drive the SSRF to issue POST /load (or any other admin-API call) against http://0.0.0.0:2019/, fully replacing the live Caddy configuration and taking over the reverse proxy. This vulnerability is fixed in 2.1.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Exposed Dangerous Method or Function
The product provides an Applications Programming Interface (API) or similar interface for interaction with external actors, but the interface includes a dangerous method or function that is not properly restricted.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- If you must expose a method, make sure to perform input validation on all arguments, limit access to authorized parties, and protect against all possible vulnerabilities.
- Identify all exposed functionality. Explicitly list all functionality that must be exposed to some user or set of users. Identify which functionality may be: accessible to all users restricted to a small set of privileged users prevented from being directly accessible at all Ensure that the implemented code follows these expectations. This includes setting the appropriate access modifiers where applicable (public, private, protected, etc.) or not marking ActiveX controls safe-for-scripting.
More Exposed Dangerous Method or Function vulnerabilities (CWE-749)
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: poc, automatable: no, technical impact: total).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Advisories
- github.com/appsmithorg/appsmith/security/advisories/GHSA-8jvv-gwqg-6vjcExploit, Third Party Advisory
Other vulnerabilities in appsmith
- 9.1 Critical severity
- 7.2 High severity
- 7.3 High severity
- 9.0 Critical severity
- 9.8 Critical severity
- 8.8 High severity
Recent Exposed Dangerous Method or Function vulnerabilities
- 8.7 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.2 High severity
- 8.7 High severity
- 8.5 High severity
- 8.1 High severity
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