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CVE-2026-92389NVD status: Awaiting Analysis

curl: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor

CVE-2026-92389 is a high-severity exposure of sensitive information to an unauthorized actor vulnerability in curl, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.1 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. Affected curl versions: 8.22.0 and earlier; 8.21.0 and earlier; 8.20.0 and earlier, and others listed below. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.72% chance of exploitation within 30 days, higher than 55% of scored CVEs.

Next patch cycle

High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.

What to do

  1. Check which version of curl you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.
  2. Until you can update, restrict network access to the affected service so it is not reachable from untrusted networks.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
Curlcurl8.22.0 and earlier; 8.21.0 and earlier; 8.20.0 and earlier; 8.19.0 and earlier; 8.18.0 and earlier; 8.17.0 and earlier; 8.16.0 and earlier; 8.15.0 and earlier; and 32 more rangesNot 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
HighSuccess depends on conditions outside the attacker's control.
Privileges required
NoneNo account or login is needed.
User interaction
NoneNo action by a victim is required.
Scope
UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
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:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by CISA (ADP).

Official description

libcurl's TFTP state machine fails to validate state transitions against the requested transfer direction, accepting opening server responses for both reads and writes interchangeably. A malicious TFTP server can respond to a download request in a way that forces the client into transmit mode, prompting libcurl to consume and transmit data from the handle's persistent `CURLOPT_READDATA` pointer - including data remaining from unrelated prior operations, such as an HTTP POST request executed on a reused handle.

Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.

The underlying weakness: Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor

The product exposes sensitive information to an actor that is not explicitly authorized to have access to that information.

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.

More Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor vulnerabilities (CWE-200)

Timeline

  1. CVE record published.
  2. CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: poc, automatable: no, technical impact: total).
  3. Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).

References

Other vulnerabilities in curl

All curl vulnerabilities

Recent Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor vulnerabilities

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