lemur: Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key
CVE-2026-71417 is a high-severity authorization bypass through user-controlled key vulnerability in lemur from Netflix, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.3 out of 10. It can be exploited with local access to the system by an attacker with a low-privileged account, without any action from a user. Affected lemur versions: < 1.9.3. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.1% 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
- Check which version of lemur 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
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
- LocalThe attacker needs local access or must trick a user into running something.
- 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
- NoneNo data is disclosed.
- Integrity
- LowLimited modification of data is possible.
- Availability
- HighThe component can be taken down completely.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:H. Scored by CNA (github.com).
Official description
Lemur manages TLS certificate creation. Prior to 1.9.3, POST /api/1/certificates/upload allowed a non-read-only user to create a duplicate row using another certificate body, authority_id, serial, or external_id without requiring permission on the underlying authority. PUT /api/1/certificates//revoke authorized the caller against only the selected Lemur row, so the creator of the duplicate bypassed CertificatePermission. The duplicate had no cert.endpoints, which also bypassed the safeguard that prevents revocation of deployed certificates. Issuer plugins then revoked the real CA-side certificate using certificate.body or external_id under the stored authority credentials. An attacker could therefore revoke arbitrary managed certificates and cause fleet-wide TLS denial of service. The fix rejects duplicate authority_id and serial identities, requires authority access on upload, and checks every matching row during revocation. This issue is fixed in version 1.9.3.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key
The system's authorization functionality does not prevent one user from gaining access to another user's data or record by modifying the key value identifying the data.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- For each and every data access, ensure that the user has sufficient privilege to access the record that is being requested.
- Make sure that the key that is used in the lookup of a specific user's record is not controllable externally by the user or that any tampering can be detected.
- Use encryption in order to make it more difficult to guess other legitimate values of the key or associate a digital signature with the key so that the server can verify that there has been no tampering.
More Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key vulnerabilities (CWE-639)
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: poc, automatable: no, technical impact: partial).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Patches and release notes
Other vulnerabilities in lemur
- 8.1 High severity
- 7.7 High severity
- 7.7 High severity
- 7.4 High severity
- 9.9 Critical severity
- 8.8 High severity
Recent Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key vulnerabilities
- 8.8 High severity
- 8.8 High severity
- 8.3 High severity
- 8.3 High severity
- 7.6 High severity
- 7.6 High severity
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